Soul Universe
by Monkeybandit2
Summary: AU. Based on the Tenchi Universe setting. Having moved out of Karakura, Ichigo now lives with his uncle and grandfather from his mother's side of the family as he pursues in education at a college level... at least that was the plan till he learns that Earth is not alone in the vast universe.
1. Chapter 1

**... I do not own either Bleach nor Tenchi Muyo, least of all any incarnation of which regarding the two!** **This story is for entertainment purposes!** **If I wanted to charge people then I wouldn't put it on Fanfiction now would I?** **(Super squint!)**

 **At any rate, this idea has been gnawing on my mind for awhile now and like most things that does so, I feel compelled to do/write it after awhile with zombified determination. It's an annoying trait I have recently come to recognize.** **With that said, I seen the 'pitch' thrown by** ** _Nikon Asturias_** **...** **to be honest I'm pirating it, sort of, at least a little.** **Taking what I want and leaving with it really...** **Is it really piracy if it isn't specifically stated he/she wasn't going to write it?**

 **Meh... we'll find out sooner or later.** **Either way the challenge(/not challenge?) has been proclaimed and I'm going about it as I may...**

 **Now on with the reading!**

Soul Universe

Chapter One: So comes the Pirate

He really didn't know why but he did it anyway, staring into the evening sky for a time as twilight slowly became more and more apparent. It became a habit of sorts each day he was coming back from college, typically with a fresh batch of notes locked away in a briefcase in his grasp, or coming back in general from the city. Sometimes he would do so at night as well if he coming back that late, almost more so than he would stare at the changing sky during the evening when reaching that old stone pathway leading to the woods and into the mountains. On even rarer occasions he would watch the dying light fade away into darkness and watch the stars come out one by one. But in the end no matter the circumstance he would eventually continue his trek up the older dirt and stone road to the Masaki Shrine. Or rather, more accurately for him, the home that rested near the foot of the Masaki Shrine, that which was his home for the past few years...

Far from the city it was a peaceful place. Healthy even for both body and soul between the fresh air and greenery. Beautiful especially during the spring when everything is in bloom. Its only real drawback was, as Nobuyuki would put it, the commute was nothing short of murder on foot. Each trek to and from the house may as well have been going five miles up hill both ways, even when literally going downhill, to reach the road and the subsequent bus stop. Unfortunately no one, not even the elderly caretaker of the shrine for all his years living there, had ever decided to purchase anything more than that ratty old farm truck that miraculously ran on duct tape and prayer. Though to be fair it never saw much use to begin with, only when to deliver crops, the shrine's primary source for funds towards the shrine's maintenance, to the city proper and back again; sometimes they even used it to pick up large items like a new fridge, rare though it was. Have they collectively thought about getting a new car? Yes. Actually bothered to at least browse for one? Not even slightly beyond the occasional glance at a used car lot. But alas the trip in of itself it was nothing to truly gripe about unless he was well and truly tired. Besides, the dirt road the truck took had more than its far share of potholes and rocks to ruin anything as well as any one who wasn't paying careful attention to it.

Sighing to himself, Ichigo Kurosaki hung the briefcase over his shoulder and resumed his semi-arduous journey up the path... up hill... with nothing but the birds and other wildlife, as well as the occasional cat from their exceptionally few neighbors, for company.

 _Shwioooooooo!_

"Hm?" Again he looked up to the sky only this time with definable purpose as he soon found what appeared to be a streak of glittering light screaming across the sky in a perfect line. That is until it split into two in a sudden downward arc. Before he could even blink both arcs crashed into the far off woods with an audible crash, the sheer shock of which causing the trees to sway so greatly that even from a distance it was noticeable. Scowling deeper than he normally would, he bounded off the beaten path in the direction of the two crashes.

XVX

Crash site

Whatever it was interestingly enough didn't create a crater upon landing. Not even an indent as far as he could tell. But there was smoke and plenty debris of an onyx like stone he knew wasn't typical for the countryside to prove that something indeed crash here. Even the brush in the natural clearing was either obliterated or on fire. Off to the distance and rising above the tree line in a slanted pillar was a heavy tower of smoke where a similar scene was likely awaiting him and anyone else who came to investigate. Were it not for an almost unperceivable moan he would've likely bounded to it as well after initially finding nothing else of note with a precursory but keen glance. Rounding a corner of a strange, angular pillar of stone, he soon found an unscathed survivor of the crash, whatever it was.

She was a woman of long, silver-grey which was plastered onto the rock behind her, a upraised, red-gloved hand resting on her forehead. Her ears were unusually elongated, elfin almost except when they ended in a rectangular manner. Other than those two characteristics the only unusual thing worth noting in his quick observation, aside from her tinted red cheeks, was her state of dress: In descending order she wore a chest length jacket which was divided into one half being orange and the other being black, the shoulders of which being quite baggy; the sleeves of the jacket were running all the way to and tapering at a point on the backs of each hand The only deviation from the already contrasting colors was the grey bordering along the openings of the coat, further decorated by a gold button for each side. . Underneath that jacket was a white dress tied to a closed by a black sash. The dress, he was guessing, ran as far as he ankles, the sides were silted all the way to her waist, the top of which parted to reveal a generous portion of her cleavage. Beneath that was a form fitting red bodysuit. It was another guess really but looking closely at her hands and the fact that some of her cleavage was outline with the exact same material it wasn't far off the mark. At the top of her covered feet were a pair of large blue glass beads... When he moved closer to further inspect her for injuries, the smell at last hit him. It was one he became familiar with over the years whenever Nobuyuki was in one of his depressed moods: the smell of alcohol.

Stopping, he opened his briefcase and dug around it till he found what he was looking for: a recently bought bottle of water. He snapped the top off only to reseal if before dashing over to her.

"Hey! Can you hear me?" he asked as he approached her. She groaned in response for what it was worth but if anything, given his experience with his uncle, it was most likely in response to noise in general. With a sigh he kneeled down, looped an arm around her back and hefted her up into at least halfway into a sitting position before again unscrewing the cap to his water bottle. After taking a hold of the base of her head so as to keep it from rolling around, he carefully brought it to her lips and with greater precision managed to pour some of the water into her mouth. An instant later she groggily awakened, swallowing the water out of reflex as her glassy eyes focused on him. "Are you alright? Are you hurt at all?"

She blinked at him in mild confusion before answering him. "No... who are you?"

"Ichigo Kurosaki." He glanced around once more and scowled a deeper scowl. "You wouldn't by chance know what happened here, do you?" Adjusting his leg, he grunted as he stood up and helped her to her feet at the same time. With surprising sobriety she got onto her feet, albeit with his help, and, again with surprising sobriety, launched herself against him, her arms wrapping around him in a tight embrace much to his surprise.

"Oh! I'm so scared!" she cried as she held him tighter, her cheek rubbing into his own, further throwing Ichigo through a loop. For a brief moment he couldn't sworn he saw some sort of smirk just before she latched herself onto him. By the time she drew away, her hands now on his sides, any trace of her drunken state from her looks to her breath had disappeared in mere moments. Her face, once drunken and confused, was now contorted with fright. "I'm Ryoko and I'm being chased by a space pirate! Please, I beg you, help me! Help me!"

"Wait, what? Space pirate! What are you—"

As if it were deliberately pronounced, something large, heavy and mechanical stomped on the ground, drawing their attention to the brush in the direction of the now dissipating pillar of smoke.

"What was that?" he asked in a serious manner just before being jumped by the woman, Ryoko, again just like before. Cheek rubbing included. "Oh! I'm so scared! Please! Please I beg you to save me!"

From the brush and the shadows something flew out and landed a fair distance from them, which happened to be across from a pond he failed to notice earlier. Once in the light he couldn't help but gawp at the sight of something he typically only seen an anime, more so in a movie, a bipedal mech of all things staring right back at them! Hulking, wide and hunched over ever so slightly, it was easily a head or two taller than him from top to bottom sans the minor wing-like appendages on its shoulders. And it didn't even have a traditional head! Instead it's visor was much lower and almost all encompassing as a single band around its oblong chest. In the meantime Ryoko pointed at it just a light from behind its one and only visor focused on her. "That's him! That's the space pirate!"

"Oh you got to be kidding me..."

The three digits that made up the suit's hand opened and closed just before the arm itself was pointed right at them, bringing to bear the more than obvious cannon attached to it.

"Let's get out of here!"

Before he realized it, she grasped his hand by the wrist and yanked him into following her just as the mech opened fire on them. The initial shots easily flew over their heads in poor aim. Sadly however they were not the only shots fired. Acting like an automatic, the cannon on its arm continued to fire about them, raining shot after shot at them that, with explosive force, tore apart the terrain. As they gotten farther and farther away from it he couldn't sworn he heard the distinctive roar of a jet engine blasting off and, considering how it arrived to begin with, decided step up the pace. With an extra burst of speed he managed to overtake Ryoko whom still held him by his wrist much to her surprise, especially now that not only where the tables turned but he abruptly lead them down a different path. "Come on!"

It wasn't long before he heard the pirate zip past them on a rocket pack. Even if he had somehow missed hearing that, the distinct lack of lasers being fired at full tilt and the subsequent explosions were just as audible to him. Unfortunately it wasn't long before mech right itself and resumed pursuit but by then he was nearing a small rock formation, a miniature mountain so to speak with a cave opening in its base. He stopped in mid-run and, catching her by surprise, scooped her up and carried her in a bridal position before dashing to and into the cave. All the while he did so he once more could've sworn he saw an amused smirk on her lips as she cuddled into him without complaint.

"Hey! Stick out your hand! If you feel something to the side, a rope, pull it!"

"Alright!"

As expected the pirate pursued them inside the cave which was in fact a tunnel that stretched out to the other side of the mountain with an opening on the other side. It was a spacious too, at least for most people. Risking a glance over his shoulder he couldn't help but smirk as the mech only had perhaps half a meter on either side of it to keep from crashing into the wall.

"Got it!"

He felt Ryoko jerk her hand forward and didn't even try to keep his smirk from turning into a smug grin as a heavy wooden 'thunk' groaned out from the walls. "Good! There should be another just up ahead!"

From sheer familiarity he leapt over a sudden barrier that emerged from the floor and crouched just enough to bypass a similar one that dropped from the ceiling shortly after. They were by far not the only ones installed by his grandfather, or more likely those who came before him for whatever reasons they had at the time, and by no means lethal for the most part, but he was more than certain enough that not only those barriers but who knew what else was activated would either cripple or at least impede the mechsuit as it continued to give chase. Sure enough he heard the telltale smashing of metal on wood and stone.

"Got it!" Ryoko squealed as she again yanked on a rope in their passing.

 ** _BOOMF!_**

The sheer weight of the impact caused him to skid to a halt and look back as a boulder began to slowly roll down the tunnel in the other side, slowly picking up speed along the way. "That's new," he lowly commented before rushing off once more with Ryoko still in his arms.

In a matter of moments he ran out of the tunnel and ran along the forested path before him for a short while. Once he was far enough he dove to the side and ducked around a tree where he set the woman back onto her feet, a second later he pressed his back to the tree. Likewise she did the same, albeit differently by snuggling her chest into his side with a smirk. That smirk only grew wider as his cheeks burned with a blush that he tried to hide away by peeking out from behind the tree almost in time for the explosions to stop, a few laser bolts screaming out into the evening sky. He wasn't sure how long either of them waited but eventually the pirate made its way out of the cave, his suit obviously worse for wear as Ichigo had mildly hoped. There was even a part of its shoulder missing, exposing the hardware and wiring beneath it as it wildly crackled. Its visor was even cracked in various places for what it was worth. And though a part of him worried for a moment that the training traps within the tunnel did more cosmetic damage than anything else, the mech stumbled forward only a couple of steps away from the cave's entrance before dropping face first onto the ground. At first it struggled against the ground to get up. In the end though it was neither able to at least push itself to its side, but, by listening carefully, he couldn't sworn it powered down in a rather audible fashion.

"My Hero!" Again she wrapped an arm around him, this time giggling especially as she planted a playful kiss on his cheek. She grinned as if she was relishing the embarrassed blush on his cheeks that sprouted from the gesture. "Oh, are you embarrased?"

The teen brought his fist up to his lips and coughed. "Let's just go."

With a smile, a teasing one he suspected, she snuggled into his side once more and sighed contently before they left.

Unbeknownst to either of them the back of the mechsuit opened up, its 'head' curling forward and propping it up. From the suit emerged a blond haired, tanned woman with a cheek puffing pout on her face. From the cockpit she produced a small kit with a wrench symbol stamped onto it.

XVX

Masaki Residence, thirty minutes later

After what seemed like an eternity trekking through the semi-familiar forest with a woman almost relentlessly, wordlessly teasing him where she could, they made it to his home for the past... three years? Four? Regardless, it was the place he had come to call home after moving out of Karakura. In short order he opened the door, crossed the threshold with her in tow and began to slip off his shoes when a thirty-something year old man with tanned skin poked his head out from the end of the hallway where the kitchen is.

"Oh! Ichigo! You're just in time to make any last minute requests! I was about to give up waiting for you! Hmm?" The dark haired man squinted through his thin framed rectangular glasses. "Who's that?" Looking to his side, Ichigo realized soon enough that Ryoko sat on the edge of the foyer's doorway to his side where the stairs would be directly behind her. Her extravagant style of hair and perhaps her shoulder and subsequent arm was probably the most Nobuyuki could see on short notice. As such he stepped out of the kitchen with a skillet in hand, wearing a red apron over a green business shirt and brown khakis. When he finally caught a good look of her and she in turn seen him, she smiled, waved and greeted him with a vibrant "hi!"

It was less than a full second that the man was hunched down next to her with a smile after a brief but visible moment of outright gawking at her. "And who is this beautiful, young lady?"

Ichigo briefly considered answering that question as he slipped on a pair of house slippers. Then again he was a bit of a flirt... and he unfortunately spent some time in bars with what few friends, mostly acquaintances really, he accrued from college to observe enough to recognize it to a degree. On rare occasions though he accompanied or was accompanied by his uncle, more by sheer chance of walking in on the other in the same bar or club one or the other was in than anything else. But still, it was a blue moon where he wasn't flirting with either a young woman or one who matched his own age. Even rarer were the times where the older man had to be taken home by the younger one, never mind if he was there to begin with or was essentially called to collect him. As such he more or less ignored his uncle as he quietly sauntered past him and began to ascend the stairs.

"Hey! It's rude to ignore a question you know!" his uncle cried out indignantly though without any real intent on berating him. As such Ichigo leveled a half surprised look on the man.

"Sorry, I thought you were asking her." Turning his attention back on the stairs, he resumed where he left off. "I'm going to put my stuff in my room. Maybe rest up a bit... it's been kind of a long day."

"Oh!" the older man said in mild surprise, blinking at him during which. "Well be mindful! Supper will be soon! Otherwise we might eat without you" he responded with a good natured chortle.

Ichigo turned his head and regarded the man with a nod. Spotting a flicker of movement, he glanced curiously at Ryoko in time for her to flirtatiously blew a kiss at him with a smirk. Like before it grew as a flustered blush assaulted his cheeks. On the other hand upon seeing it, the act floored his uncle with a defeated groan, causing him to grin a little.

XVX

Living Room, a few minutes later

"Waah! Outer space?!"

They were all situated around the table nearest the kitchen: after some lackluster trial and error Ichigo had given up on claiming a side to himself when Ryoko decidedly kept claiming the spot right next to him. On the other side was his uncle Nobuyuki and, arriving a few minutes ago, his shinto priest of a grandfather from his mother's side of the family, however loosely, the dark grayed haired Katsuhito Masaki. It was his uncle who reacted of course, his grandfather was seldom ever flustered or even openly surprised by anything to say the least.

Just before, during and after Nobuyuki's exclamation, Ryoko continued to dab at her cheek with a cloth for a tear she recently shed, all the while smiling in a serene fashion as Ichigo continued to incredulously eye her. Whether she was aware of it or not was beyond him considering she had her eyes closed throughout the ordeal. "Yes. And I was attacked by a savage space pirate on my journey through space. I desperately tried to escape, but my space ship almost ran into another ship and fell straight down to this planet." In the meantime Ichigo came to squint at her but otherwise didn't call her out on it. Nor was he in essence called out by his attentive grandfather who, from his experience, was rather sharp when it came to small details. Most of the time at least... At any rate, while her story might be true, especially since he could maybe at best get the gist of defined orbital thrust, theory and gravitational pull on a good day, that didn't quite explain why she was drunk when he found her.

Nobuyuki then reached out, grabbed the wrist that held the handkerchief which caused her to drop it in surprise, and pulled it towards him till he could easily cup her hand with both of his own.

"You have been through a very great hardship, young lady from outer space" he softly announced. "Such distress," the oldest man summed up in his gravelly voice whilst Ryoko spurted fresh, unshead tears in her ear. Ichigo in the meantime only blinked, his expression not changing in the slightest other than directing his gaze on his uncle instead. He of course turned to the youngest one among them with a stern scowl on his face.

"Ichigo, don't just sit there! Why don't you offer her some nice candy or something!"

Ichigo's incredulous expression soured into one that of a deadpan one. It was no less incredulous however. "Candy? Really? She's not a little kid or even five years younger than me."

The older man frowned, turned his head and brought a curled hand to his mouth as he tried to cough away his embarrassment as an equally embarrassed tinge of red crept on his cheeks. "Yes, well, it's that thought that counts..." he mumbled. Soon enough he rid himself of his minute shame. "At least offer her some tea or something!"

In response Ichigo pointed at Katsuhito whom had taken the sole teapot for himself to pour himself a drink, his eyes closed while doing so.

"It must be very cold in outer space this time of year," he noted just as he finished pouring himself some tea. By the time he opened his eyes her offered her a kind smile as he held up the small ceramic teapot. "Here, have some more hot tea, won't you?"

"Oh how sweet of you to talk so kindly to a total stranger." When Ichigo looked to her once more she not only reclaimed her own hand but had also equipped herself with the handkerchief once more which she dabbed at her right eye. With her eyes closed she turned her head away to her right. "But if I stay here it will only mean trouble for you and I don't want to cause you any trouble. And she, that space pirate! will come back for me, I'm sure!"

And once more his eyes came to squint at her... While he will not claim to have a great memory about things during the middle of a chase, but he was certain she called the mech pilot a "he" when they first met.

Nobuyuki stood up with a small sense of showmanship which was most announced by lightly pounding his chest with his left fist. "Now rest assured young lady, we're on your side!" He then stepped around the table and kneeled down close to her. she in turn demurely looked down, the hand bearing the piece of cloth coming to rest on the table. "Don't you worry about anything. We'll protect you, I promise!"

With a smile Ryoko looked up to him and cupped her hands in front of her with a clap. "I thank you honorable father!"

With a grin Nobuyuki replied "Oh can I believe my ears? You call me—" He caught himself and smiled bashfully at her, closing his eyes as he did so and spending a rush of nervous energy by rubbing the underside of his nose as he pointed to Ichigo. "Actually I'm his uncle."

"Oh?" She looked to the both of them, often switching her head to compare them. "But you two are so alike in your valiant spirit!"

"Haha! Well, it runs in my family after all! He's my sister's son after all!" Nobuyuki boasted as he again rubbed the underside of his nose. A large sweat drop would've formed on the side of Ichigo's head if it could as the older man laughed.

"In that case, I'll be your devoted niece!"

That sweat drop was threatening to become a reality for Ichigo as he glanced to the side at his composed grandfather. "Do you want to step in here or...?"

A seemingly pointed sip was his answer much to his annoyance. It did obscure his uncle's abrupt but brief cry though if only a little.

"Ichigo! You have such a wonderful bride!"

He squinted his eyes closed, canted his head forth and pinched at the bridge of his nose. Though he didn't say anything, he did growl in annoyance.

"And I know your mother in heaven must be happy for you now!"

"Now your pushing it," Ichigo grumbled. But it would seem for all intents and purposes he was ignored.

"My uncle!"

"My niece!"

He didn't look for the general sake of peace, namely his sanity, but he certainly did hear Katsuhito hum his approval, probably nodding as he did so...

"I just had to move out of Karakura..."

XVX

Later, twilight, after dinner

 _Clack-Clack! Clack-clack!_

Equipped with a headband to absorb sweat, Ichigo tirelessly pounded away at the newly installed wood barricades that now shut the glass doors/door sized windows of the living room away from the world. Glancing over to his side he made sure his uncle hadn't slipped away to leave him with all of the work; the man still sported the welt from last time when he tried to use the "I made dinner" excuse on him. It was his idea to bored up the bottom tier of the three story house after all... While he wasn't quite sure how well wood be against an irate 'pirate' with a laser gun, it would ideally at least give them some initial protection if the 'pirate' was indeed a trigger happy maniac. That was of course assuming that mechsuit was out of commission... he wasn't exactly keen on rebuilding the house if he could help it.

As for Ryoko whom he eyed on occasion, more often than not getting a flirtatious smirk in return, she sat on the porch to their side, watching them all the while as they worked. His grandfather was nowhere to be seen since he took his own supply of wood and nails to border up the other side of the house. But of course he reappeared soon enough, incidentally enough it was just when the two men stepped back to observe their work in silence.

"Well I think I'll going back to the shrine now. You come call me if anything happens." He waved at them and made for the woods. Ryoko giggled and waved back as the other two called out "goodnight" to him in varying manners. Ichigo in the meantime scowled a deeper scowl out of concern but otherwise didn't say anything on his mind; he never asked, and his grandfather certainly never suggested it in the slightest, but at times Ichigo couldn't help but suspect his grandfather was hiding something. He was an accomplished swordsman in his own right from what he saw in the few sparing sessions they shared over the years. If nothing else then he, like Ichigo, can use his knowledge and familiarity of the terrain to his advantage if push came to shove. He was certainly nimble in his old age for sure.

"Well, we should get back inside too."

Abruptly a flock of birds cried out from the brush and rattled the foliage in their sudden departure. Ichigo turned with a scowl in hopes of spotting the cause only to be stopped when Ryoko not only cried out in a girlish, playfully scared manner but latched onto him to in a hug. "Oh-oh! I'm scared!"

With a disappointed groan Nobuyuki slumped in place in a depression. It didn't help matters either when she nuzzled her cheek into his nephew's shoulder, causing said nephew to blush from the affection. "It's certainly good to know I have two strong men looking out for little ole' me!"

An instant later the older man stood up straight and chuckling almost perversely as he kept his hammer to his chest. "Don't you worry, I'll stand on guard all night to protect you!"

... Ichigo gave him maybe an hour before conking out. Maybe two if his favorite programs were on.

XVX

Inside

As he had suspected, Uncle Nobuyuki fell asleep on the couch with the TV on. Hammer still in hand for what it was worth. Wasn't even a full hour just yet when he came down to get a snack. Then again from what he glanced off the TV he had been watching a documentary about... something, and even the orange haired man fell asleep to those given enough time. Regardless, he grabbed a bag of pretzels for himself and semi-quietly made it back to his room after double checking the lock at the front door.

When he opened the door to his room he was immediately assault by the excited, semi-coherent jibber jabber muttered by Ryoko as she entertained herself with his gamestation. As he walked in he opened the bag, took some out for himself and munched on them before planting the bag at the corner of his desk as something of a 'neutral' spot between them should either be inclined to snack on them. Ryoko certainly had no qualms with it as she, like him, snagged some for herself and munched on them without missing a beat on 'her' game. Ichigo in the meantime opened a book on human anatomy and began to take notes as he read the book page by page in scrutinizing detail.

 _Ding-dong!_

"Hm?" He looked up and then over his shoulder to Ryoko to see if that was indeed the source of the doorbell sound. But no, she was playing a fighting game. Incidentally enough her character looked much like her, albeit in a cartoonish way. Ryoko on the other hand seemed so engrossed in it with childish glee that she didn't seem to acknowledge the sound.

 _Ding-dong!_

Frowning, he glanced over to the wall to his right. Leaning on the wall in the event of an emergency was a bokken, a wooden sword. While by no means illegal but dangerous to boot when used with force, to this day and age people still couldn't help but think of him as something of a delinquent thanks to his natural hair color. And for all he knew, and it had happened before, there was a guest at the door for either him or his uncle. More so his uncle than anyone else. Grandpa also received the occasional visitor here as well if they were visiting from other shrines. Besides, what were the chances it was a 'pirate' who decided to use the doorbell of all things?

 _Ding-dong!_

With a grunt he pushed himself off from the desk and went to his open closet. Immediately he reached in, rummaged around and finally produced a tennis racket for the off chance it was indeed the 'pirate' from before, hopefully unarmored without that mech. If not, a tennis racket was not only far less intimidating but far more explainable to any stranger or loose acquaintance. He glanced at Ryoko one last time and found her still engrossed with the game. Shaking his head, he headed down stairs.

XVX

 _Ding-dong!_

"Coming, coming!"

He reached out, undid the lock and grasped the handle for the shoji door and pushed it open to reveal none other than the 'space pirate' from before... in the mechsuit... with a few patch jobs here and there...

Yep. A tennis racket wasn't going to do jack against that.

The light behind the visor activated and focused on him after briefly surveying the foyer past him.

Immediately he slammed the door shut, locked it and ran up the stairs. He was halfway up them when the mech smashed through the door with a single swipe and paused for a moment to spot him. By the time it did he was making his way down the adjacent hallway to his room, shouting all the while "Ryoko! Get my bokken!"

"Huh? Wha—?" Ryoko said as she poked her head out to investigate on what was going on. Soon enough Ichigo nearly clipped her with his shoulder by accident as he wrapped an arm around her waist. Rather than be alarmed, she giggled excitedly like she had before as he pulled her inside his room in a bee line to the open window before him, his free hand abandoning the racket to reach out and nab his wooden sword. Unfortunately in his haste he failed to grab it by the time one foot planted itself on his desk, his arm squeezing Ryoko tightly to him so they could both squeeze through the window in a jump. Luckily enough they jumped through it with nary a problem. He was however unprepared for the tiled roofing just beyond the roof, landing on it with a disjointed grunt he landed and slipping on it enough to lose his balance in the escape. As a result he tumbled over the edge before he could stop himself, twisted himself in the air by sheer luck and took the brunt of the fall with Ryoko landing atop of him.

"Oh! Are you alright?"

 _SMASH!_

Sadly she didn't get her answer as the mech pilot barrled through his window and flew overhead just enough to land some meters away. Quickly he scrambled to his feet and pulled Ryoko to hers as the pilot lurched with each step to turn around and face them. When it finally did, at least for their last spot, they had ran around the mech and dashed out the front gate of the house. Realizing it had been given the runaround, literally, the jets on its back flared to life once more and it took off in the air. Quickly enough it spotted them and brought its cannon to bear on them, resuming where it left off hours before.

"GIVE ME A BREAK!"

XVX

Shrine, minutes later

Much to their luck the mech's aim didn't improve in the slightest as it chased them up hill along the ancient stairway to the shrine, through the trees, and over a river which he could've sworn wasn't there in a desperate bid to his grandfather's house. What exactly could he do against a technologically machine? He wasn't sure but it sure as hell beat being shot at by someone who for all intents and purposes had something personal against Ryoko, and by coincidence him for helping her.

When they managed to reach the top where the shrine sat, including Katsuhito's abode right next to it, they found the man himself outside of his home at the shrine with a bokken held in reverse in his left hand like it was sword still in the sheath. Once they passed the threshold the firing stopped for a brief moment as the mech flew overhead. It killed its rocket pack and landed on the ground between the three in a rough jolt. Once more the light behind its visor flared to life and inspected the older man while he keenly observed it in return.

The elderly man canted his head forth, his eyes closed and muttered "What a nuisance." When he slowly looked up once more there was a stern glare in his eyes and a gleam in his glasses thanks to the moonlight. In an almost dramtic but modest flourish he reached over and drew the bokken out of his hand before wielding it at the mech. He stepped out from the porch of his abode and drew his foot across the stone walkway beneath his feet in preparation as the mech fully turned to him in anticipation. As the two stared off at one another the world went silent save for a gently but strong gust of wind to rustle the trees.

 _"_ _CUT!"_

He almost missed it entirely but the shinto priest moved far faster than the pilot could react. The wooden sword smashed through the armor with almost disturbing ease without it itself cracking in return as chunks of metal and components scattered to the ground in the old man's passing. As if it were a weak spot the mech fell to its knees and began to spark. The shrine keeper leapt away from it long beforehand and prepared for another blow to come by the time the mech inexplicably exploded like a firework in a brilliant flash of light and subsequent smoke.

"Hurray!" Ryoko cheered. Ichigo in the meantime sighed in relief. Their collective mood was doured however as coughing could be heard from the cloud of smoke. When the smoke dissipated it revealed a women on he hands and knees, her rear pointed at them, in a bodysuit divided into three portions of red-orange, black and the color mauve in the middle of the suit. Attached to the left side her waist, above the cheek was a small furry ball. As more details became clear especially as she turned her face to face them, it was evident she wore her blond hair in a enlarged, wavy pony tail to keep the majority of it, save for two wavy bangs, out of her dark skinned face and blue eyes.

"Surrender yourself Space Pirate Ryoko! Your evil deeds end here and now!"

Ichigo twitched as he slowly craned his head to Ryoko. She in turn pouted at him with tears in her eyes. "She's lying!" she cried in her defense. "Do I look like an infamous criminal?" At his distinct lack of a response she brought her hands to her eyes, presumably to wipe away the tears as well as not look at him. "How can you suspect me when there's no proof!"

"There's proof alright!" As a precaution Ichigo discreetly scooted himself away from Ryoko as he looked to the woman as she reached behind her into a pocket in her suit. "I have it right here!" With a distinct pop a hand-sized pink orb materialized out of nowhere. When she brought it to her face she frowned in a cute fashion as she realized she grabbed something else, stuttering all the while. "N-no I don't." She flipped herself onto her back with her knees drawn up in the air as she began to search her person. All the while she was pulling out seemingly random items such as pens, boxes of tissue paper, purses, items of alien origin, and a teddy bear just to name a few things.

"This is definitely not it! I don't even know what this is! This is strange! Where did I put it?" Once more that sweat drop threatened to be made a reality on the side of Ichigo's head. After pulling out yet another pen she smiled as he hand groped something she was evidently familiar with. "Ah! I found it!"

She hoped onto her feet with acrobatic precision, bringing to light that only her legs were divided into red-orange and black and the majority of both her just and waist were clad in a mauve color. The arms of her suit were predominantly black with red-orange shoulder guards and elbow guards. As she presented the pen to them she inadvertently revealed that her gloved hands had mauve coloring as well, yet her fingers were garbed in blue material. As for the pen, written in English was the words GALAXY POLICE. "This is my proof! This is my ID!" She depressed the top of the pen and a small pole extended out from the side. Along with it a plastic-like curtain swooshed out in a perfect square and hardened itself. A second later static dominated the screen for just a moment to an ID of the same woman wearing a blue hat and uniform of some kind now, saluting at the picture. To its side and written in English was MISHOSHI, GALAXY POLICE EXPERT DETECTIVE. Though it wasn't the only writing, the rest of written in a language that was by no means native to Earth as far as he knew. The only thing remotely recognizable beyond her name and station was the face GALAXY POLICE was written in the corner of the screen along with what was presumably their symbol, a geometric capital G with a similar P conjoined with it at its own corner at the bottom. "And here's the wanted poster!" The screen changed once more to reveal a picture of Ryoko. Like Mihoshi her attire was different though obscured. In it the woman was smiling devilishly while a fifth of her face was painted in black on the side. In response Ichigo slapped his own face and groaned out "I was assisting a felon."

Ryoko, meanwhile, began to chuckle rather throatily, not to mention darkly. Reluctantly Ichigo looked to her with narrowed eyes. When she spoke up once more there was no sense of her scrupulous damsel in distressed tone she had been carrying since they had met. No, her voice was rougher but unsurprisingly more natural to her as a revealed villain. "Okay so you know who I really am now." She irritably glared at the officer before her. "I had a hangover when I ran into you. Otherwise a stupid cop like you wouldn't have spotted me!" she yelled. With a coy smirk she leered at her as she turned her head to look at her from the corner of the silver haired woman's eye. "I usually don't make mistakes like that. Know why? Because I'm smart."

"Says the woman who crash landed while drunk," Ichigo muttered. For better or worse he said it lowly enough to be ignored for the time being.

"So Stupid, how do you think I should cook you?" In response the officer pulled out a gun with both hands in grim determination and pointed it at her.

"Don't move! Please stop right there! If you move, I'm gonna shoot! And if I shoot it's really going to hurt you!"

From the side Ichigo couldn't help but stare at Mihoshi in a deadpan manner as she began to sweat nervously. Ryoko, during which, began to throatily chortle once more. "Go right ahead."

The other woman cringed and looked away. As she did so she pull the trigger and shot out not once or twice but multiple times, thankfully without recoil. It didn't matter though. Each shot, while true, glanced off an invisible barrier around Ryoko as she stood boldly in front of her, hands on her hips and a confident smirk on her lips. Eventually Mihoshi dared to look and gawked at the sight before her as she mindlessly fired away, her eyes wide with fear and disbelief as if she were indeed facing a nightmare that was supposed to be nothing more than a story. Seeing her expression, Ryoko's smirk turned into a dark grin.

"That's right. You're hunting big game now, too big for you!" As the shots continued at a steady pace, Ryoko's hand where held at her sides, palms facing towards the officer and alight with a pair of translucent red-orange orbs. From between them wild bolts of energy crackled in the air. "Now I had enough, it's my turn to retaliate!"

The officer whimpered as she edged away. She kept shooting at her though with one hand on the gun, still without recoil for what it's worth.

With one last, savage grin she levitated herself in the air. It was lost a moment later as she roared in a bestial fashion and launched herself at the other woman, her shield still deflecting the blasts from the gun even as the officers fell onto her rump and began to kicked at the ground to get herself away from the pirate... Neither of them were paying attention to Ichigo.

Ichigo sprung himself into action without thinking before Ryoko was even half way to her target. Though it was a challenge, he managed to scoop Mihoshi up into a bridal fashion with only a grunt and a mild stumble rather than fail altogether after having caught the both of them by surprise. Thankfully it was soo sudden as far as they were concerned it stalled Ryoko not only long enough for the other woman to instinctively cling to Ichigo with tears in her eyes but for him to dash past the threshold of the stairs.

"Aaaah! You can't escape me!"

"For what it's worth, sorry for wrecking your suit!" Ichigo blurted out as he hurdled over the stairs in a mad race to the bottom. Ryoko, thankfully, seemed to be struggling to keep up with him at the moment.

"Apology accepted!" Mihoshi cried as she clung into him tighter and buried her head against his chest. It was at that point that moment he just realized something.

"Gah! I could've grabbed grandpa's bokken!" His eyes widened at another revelation which caused him to look over his shoulder, look past a furious Ryoko as best he could only to find no one else was chasing them, much less observing what was going on. "Oh come on!" He sincerely doubted his grandfather was in any way stunned by what was going on!... And then he realized that there were more training swords, shinai and what-have-you back at the shrine. "I'm an idiot..." he grumbled as he returned his attention to the rapidly disappearing stairway.

Seeing as his only route to arming himself was blocked off, and even if he somehow doubled back it would be laborious given how he is now, he only had one choice. He leapt down the last segment of the stairs and propelled himself in the direction of the house.

XVX

Masaki Residence

Already he flew up the stairs and made for his room which now had a gaping hole where the door use to be. As much as he would've liked to complain at the moment, it made it all the easier for him to slip inside and bark "Get the bokken from the wall" as he rushed over to it. Crying out but not looking, Mihoshi's hand wildly groped the air and with blind luck managed to take a hold of the sword. Once3 he saw her grab it he immediately planted a foot on his desk and launched himself through his widened and destroyed window.

Sadly he didn't pay attention to the fact it was within that moment that Mihoshi flung it at his face without looking as she held him even tighter with cry of surprise.

Once more he landed on the roof only to slip, stumble and fall off the roofing once more. And just like before he twisted himself in time to take the brunt of the impact with Mihoshi landing atop of him... Unlike before he didn't get up immediately afterward as Ryoko floated into view from his destroyed window, her hands still holding aloft the orbs that crackled with energy yet to be released. With a chuckle she slowly began to lower herself till she was near the ground. She remained a good meter above it however.

"Well, now you die," she announced with a light lilt to match her smirk.

Groaning and whining, Mihoshi raised her hand and pulled the trigger only to realize that somewhere along the way she had dropped her gun. "My gun! Where did I—" She cut herself off to fratnically search yourself, Ichigo and the surrounding area in hopes of finding her blaster. She only stopped a moment later when Ichigo quietly and solemnly stood up with the bokken in hand. Once he stood tall he groaned as he rolled his shoulder and cracked his neck before sliding into a stance, the wooden sword grasped tightly in both hands.

"Mihoshi," he murmured, "get behind me." She quickly obliged and cowered behind him with a with a whimper. Ryoko in the meantime seemed taken aback in surprise before glaring at him, staring intently into his eyes as he glared back...

She then smirked once more and lowered herself to the ground. The orbs of energy vanished without a trace alongside the bolts of electricity that ran between them as she pleasantly but loudly sighed as she planted her hands on the back of her head with a smile on her face, her eyes closed. "Ah! That was fun!" she cried out, her previous tone of voice returning.

"Huh?" Mihoshi cautiously peeked around Ichigo's defensive but confused form.

"I was never really going to hurt you guys! I was just teasing. Couldn't you tell?" Ryoko offered as she continued to relax in her spot. "I was just having some fun!"

Ichigo scowled at her all the more in response. Mihoshi in the meantime walked out from behind him with a hopeful smile on her face. "So does that mean you're going to surrender yourself?"

At last Ryoko peeked out and smirked at her in an impish manner. "Well I just might do that for you."

"Wow! That's fantastic!" Blinking, Ichigo looked at her and easily found that she smirk went over her head completely...

"Just wait a second and I'll read you your rights," Mihoshi continued with a bright smile as she reached into her suit and retrieved two metal rods. She held them parallel to one another before her and within a second a screen appeared in the empty space between the poles. "Galaxy Police Federal Law Article Two-Five-Four-Six Page Nine-Three-Seven of the Revised Divisions. The suspect is entitled to keep silent about any facts that may have an advertent impact on— AAAH!"

Ryoko had lowered both arms to cross them over her chest while Mihoshi was talking. Quietly she raised a finger and pointed it at the board in Mihoshi's hands with a smirk reminiscent of a prankster. Within that same moment she fired out a finger sized bolt of energy that shot out from her finger that blew up the board in a fiery explosion. As Mihoshi gawked at her smoking but uninjured hands, Ryoko hold up her finger which crackled with minute orange electricity with a look not out of place of her pirate persona. "Go on," she offered.

With a marked frown Mihoshi stuttered "Er-I t-think I know the rights by heart." Without turning her head she looked away. "Uh, Galaxy Police Federal Law, Article Two-Five-Four-Six... Uh..." She placed a hand on her head and looked away in the other direction, turning he head and tilting it slightly as she did so. "Or was it Article Two-Four-Six-Five?" Again she looked in another direction. "Or-or Two-Four-Four-Three?" She grabbed her head and looked at the ground before her. "Or-No. Two-Four-Six—no." Tears welled up in her ears. "No, that's not it! I-I-I don't—" She slumped onto her knees and began to openly cry. "I don't remember! what should I do?"

Ryoko, meanwhile, stretched herself with a self satisfied smirk and turned away while glancing at the two. "You know, I kinda decided I like this place a lot. I think I'll do you a favor and stay here awhile."

At last the sweat drop had fallen on the side of Ichigo's head. "Huh?"

With a chuckle she slipped in close and pushed aside the wooden sword in her approach. She grinned even more as his narrowed eyes squinted at her even as she planted her bent arm on his shoulder. "You're happy, aren't you?"

"Ecstatic," he retorted lowly.

With a soft giggle she leaned in close and seemingly relished the slight tensing as she drew closer to his ear. "You were so wonderful when you first saved me. So valiant and brave. A girl really could fall for you." She drew away and smirked at him once more upon seeing his scowl. As she stepped back further she brought a pair of fingers to her lips, kiss them and blew said kiss to him before jauntily walking away, disappearing around the nearest corner of the house.

Sighing to himself, Ichigo looked to the still crying Mihoshi and offered her a hand.

XVX

Living Room, morning

"Oh I had so much fun last night!"

"You don't say..."

They had all gathered around the table in the living room for breakfast. Some mackerel, rice... nothing unusual. If anything Mihoshi was enthused by it all. Or rather she was delighted by the flavoring.

"I'm in love! I love these pickles!"

Case and point being the pickles... Of course to be fair he was willing to bet Yuzu would be begging on her hands and knees for the recipe.

"My deceased wife's special recipe," Katsuhito explained as he reached for the bowl of pickles in front of him. With a smile he offered her the bowl. "Go ahead. Have some more."

"Wow, thanks so much!"

"Hey, how come you're eating breakfast with us anyway? You've got some nerve."

Ichigo, who had been eating with his eyes closed the entire time, cracked an eye open to give Ryoko a sidelong glance. She had given up her earlier wardrobe for a predominantly blue dress with thick tan stripes. Tied to her waist was a red sash, and underneath her dress from what he could guess was a black bodysuit that had no gloves unlike its red counterpart. Mihoshi had undergone a similar change herself, only it consisted of a pink sweater that didn't bother her and khakis. "Doesn't that apply to you too?"

Sniffles of course drew his attention away to Mihoshi who was looking towards Ryoko as if she really did have to answer her question. From the looks of it, he surmised, she was going to.

"I'm sorry," she sniffed. "My spaceship was destroyed. And I have no way to get home and no place to call home." She sniffed again as she fought back her tears. But unfortunately it didn't seem like she had long before she burst into tears at the rate she was sniffing. He made to say something but unfortunately Ryoko spoke up first. "It's too bad! Especially now that I decided to surrender myself to you." Tears were now forming in Mihoshi's eyes as her sniffing became more pronounced.

 _Bonk!_

"Ow!" Ryoko almost dropped her bowl as she turned to Ichigo as she gingerly rubbed her head. "What was that for?"

"Don't make her feel worse than she already does," he grumped as he pointedly put down his now crooked chopsticks.

"No violence at the table, Ichigo," Katsuhito reprimanded before he calmly sipped his tea.

Grunting in acknowledgement, Ichigo then turned to Mihoshi as she fought to keep herself from crying. "So what are you going to do now?" he asked. Thankfully it seemed to be the right question to distract herself from her state as she regarded him almost sheepishly.

"I really don't know what I'm gonna," she admitted. She grabbed at her pants and fidgeted in place. "Uh... Would you let me stay here for awhile?" she timidly asked. "I don't know anyone else on this planet." She began to look about the table for an answer with a small, nervous smile.

"Mm, that's a good idea," the shrine keeper answered after his sip. With a grin Nobuyuki joined in. "Sure is! It'll brighten our lives having you girls in the house full of bachelors!" he laughed at the end.

"Just don't peep on them in the bath, Old Man" Ichigo grunted as he took up his chopsticks once more. "Seconded," Katsuhito added. With a "aah!" Nobuyuki toppled over to the side at the accusation with a look of shock on his face. for better or worse it was ignored. Especially by Mihoshi through ignorance alone.

"If you would be so kind, I have another favor to ask of you."

"Hm?" The oldest of the three men regarded her with a kind smile. "Yes, what is it?"

Eagerly with a matching smile she held her bowl aloft. "May I some more steamed rice, please?"

Rolling his eyes, Ichigo continued on with his own breakfast.

XVX

Outside, half an hour later

The mess that was the front door, his bedroom door and his window were cleaned up easily enough. Thankfully they had a spare door available but that would be put in later for the time being. Already his window was shuttered off, thankfully the damage to it was contained to the window itself, but it needed to be replaced. For now Ichigo busied himself on the roofing beneath his window where he apparently put a hole in it by accident in the two escapes. Much to his luck it was only one spot but still he had to removed quite a patch of ceramic tiles to get to it and hammer in a board, even then they would need to get new tiles for the roofing to replace the ones he inadvertently broke.

"So there you are, Ichigo!"

"Hm?" He looked over his shoulder to find Ryoko hunching over him with a smile on her face. He grunted in acknowledgement and turned back to his work at hand which he was finishing up. Her heard her sigh and sit down on the patch of roofing behind him but didn't bother to look in favor of hammering that final nail in.

"You know it's really peaceful out here."

"Up until a space pirate comes by at least."

Rather than be upset as he partially suspected at the jab, she laughed instead. "True."

The birds chirped merrily in the distance as the hammer continued to strike the nail until it was firmly flush against the board.

"You know, a lot of things and words said are often said in perspective," Ichigo suddenly said as he gave his work a onceover. "So just to be clear, _and please tell me I'm wrong_ ," he muttered lowly in regards to the second half, "by "here" do you mean the planet or this house?"

She giggled before answering him. "Is there something wrong with me staying here?" At his deliberate lack of a response she giggled to herself once more as if she knew what he really wanted to say or do. "Has anyone said you are cute in your stoicism?"

He was blushing to the tips as he just realized that not only was he wrong, it wasn't the only wrong he wanted to be wrong in! "Hey wait a—" He turned to her in hopes of rebuffing her somehow. As much as anyone would most likely enjoy having some kind of space girlfriend, he wasn't looking for that type of relationship just yet! Especially with someone he literally just met yesterday! But she planted her fingers on his lip with a sly grin on her own.

"No need for discussion." She kissed at him from her spot with a playful wink following right after, causing him to groan much to her amusement.

 **A/N: Well it's out there.** **Ichigo is living with the Masaki family, no last name changing of any sort for the most part and thankfully it was by exploiting a loophole I almost failed to notice:** **Nobuyuki Masaki married** ** _into_** **the Masaki family;** **his family could literally be anyone!** **Hence he is Ichigo's uncle for this story!** **His mother's brother!** **To be honest I wanted to keep (interestingly enough)** ** _Masaki _****_Kurosaki's_** **heritage of being a 'pureblood' quincy intact.** **No particular reason really but I thought it would muddle things considering that her father in** ** _Nikon Asturias'_** **intended version of the Tenchi Universe was supposed to be Katsuhito (aka Yosho of Jurai) and thus spoil that, making her a target of sorts to Yhwach (even though she already was) and thus (hypothetically of course) killing her off at a much earlier stage in the Bleach portion of the story...** **kind of strange logic, I'll grant you that, but that's the thought I was operating on.**

 ** _SPOILER:_** **I'm doing this because frankly I neither plan to explore this later nor even hint at it.** **In regards to Nobuyuki as Masaki's brother, whom is a quincy and thus logically should be a quincy considering I circumvented any at all muddling into the Masaki family at Katsuhito's (Yosho) level, he is not a quincy by any means.** **If anything he is, by anime law of probability (if it is a thing which I will not bother to look up for I am lazy), the one born without powers.** **On top of that he is largely ignorant of quincy culture as a whole to the point of "what's a quincy?" by sheer dumb luck if you will.** **He is not a quincy.** **He is not a quincy badass in hiding.** **There will be no quincies.** **Quincies are not part of this story.** **This is not a specifically specific denial.**

 **In other news as I was writing this I suddenly developed an idea/interest to basically do the same thing with Tenchi Muyo GXP... We'll see how that works out.**

 **Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention! No refunds.**


	2. Chapter 2

**... I do not own either Bleach nor Tenchi Muyo, least of all any incarnation of which regarding the two!** **This story is for entertainment purposes!** **If I wanted to charge people then I wouldn't put it on Fanfiction now would I?** **(Super squint!)**

Soul Universe

Chapter Two: Here comes the Princess

Masaki Shrine

Since they had moved in he had only noticed two discrepancies in regards to life as he knew it at his extended family's household: An increase in expenditures and an overall lack of time to study and train. At first glance for anyone looking into the situation from the outside they would probably suspect Mihoshi of this; it is true but false as well to differing, situational occurrences. She was accident prone for certain which they all quickly came to learn. She could simply be walking around the house where everyone else had walked through dozens of times before and she would be the one to trip a surprisingly unseen slipper or find a shockingly rotted out piece of floorboard the good old fashion way by stepping through it as an example. Even some tasks were not without some measure of danger for herself and others, though to be fair 'danger' was perhaps overkill to describe the mischief she was unwittingly party to or cause of. Needless to say that each male of the household had spent a fair amount of time either tending to her for any injuries, which were shockingly few given some circumstances, or else trying to repair what was damaged in the first place. For what it was worth however she absolutely excelled at simple tasks and domestic housework with next to no mishaps. No, the real culprit as to the aforementioned discrepancies was an unapologetic Ryoko.

Between splitting her time between rummaging her now ruined ship and being of some help to the household in some manner, often with something disastrous happening of course, Mihoshi was in essence the antithesis of Ryoko: when uninterested of even watching TV or commandeering his games, the pirate often lounged about either snacking or drinking sake if she wasn't asleep. When store of sake they kept at the house, really a sixth of a shelf's worth at most at any given time, were low she often badgered someone into getting more sake or appropriated someone's wallet to get it herself if she felt she felt they were too slow in collecting her favorite drink. But most of all her favorite hobby was essentially stalking him, general hounding for him to play with her when he was typically working at the shrine, cuddling with him against his will and even attempted kidnapping with a rope more often than not. Needless to say he had to make a few sacrifices in regards to his more leisurely hobbies and look over his shoulder on occasion to ensure she wasn't lying in wait with a mischievous, salacious grin on her lips... He wasn't even safe in the bathroom. In all fairness however she only made her appearance when he was taking a bath rather than minding his business.

Thankfully she was only rambunctious once or twice a week at most, though he could swear she did it mostly for kicks rather than any actual 'urge' on her part. Every other time between them was usually spent hanging on his shoulder, literally, like a devil as he tried to focus on whatever task that happened to be on hand. In this particular case it was sweeping the temple grounds at the behest of his grandfather.

"Come on!" Ryoko childishly whined as he tried to drag him away with playful tugs, her arms around his shoulders as he swept. "Let's go play!"

"I'm not going anywhere till I'm done," Ichigo bluntly replied. It didn't deter her in the least however, nor was she even particularly upset by it either. Then again it was roughly his go to response for most Ryoko related matters in the past couple of weeks. But still she tried to 'pull' him away as he kept trying to ignore her as he swept; looking up would've most likely have been met with an almost irresistible and most likely long practiced puppy dog pout the likes he hadn't seen since the last time he visited his family in Karakura. It was only at the sound of odd beeping and clicking emanating from the side that he bothered to look up at all and look to where a humming Mihoshi had seated herself some time ago on the steps of the shrine proper. In her fiddling hands was a pink cube which she twisted and turned much like a rubix cube. On closer inspection it constantly switched from a bright pink to a dull magenta with each side turned.

Given he hadn't noticed it before and the fact that she wasn't secretive in the least, he could only assume she recently scavenged it from the wreck of her ship, another hobby of hers so to speak in order to keep herself busy. Now that he thought about it hwoever, what happened to Ryoko's ship? He had to help Mihoshi find her own ship since she had no knowledge of the forestland surrounding them and that was an absolute battle scarred wreck beyond any of hope of redemption, but that involved finding Ryoko's crash site to act as a land marker; were it not for the scorched earth, the crater and Mihoshi herself he would've thought he stumbled onto the crash site of a meteorite.

In the end however he shrugged it off: for all he knew the ship was ridiculously biodegradable or repaired itself. Hell, a secretive government agency ran off with it, not that Ryoko seemed worried in the least of course. Then again he never asked her to begin with as he tried to concentrate on his work and studies.

"Hey Mihoshi, what is that thing?"

"A special device made exclusively for the Galaxy Police," she answered him without looking up, a smile on her lips. "You turn it this way and that way, and..." A star-like light merged in the very center of the cube. "There! I can send out a distress signal now!"

"We're in the boonies, kiddo," Ryoko stated as she looked over Ichigo's shoulder, arms still wrapped around him yet her body was now draping off him rather than floating next to him. "Can you really count on a toy like that?"

"According to statistics, one case in two-hundred years is reported to result in a successful rescue," Mihoshi answered her as she stood up, eyes closed as she smiled at them.

A deadpan glower replaced the usual scowl on Ichigo's lips. And though he didn't so much as glance at the other woman's direction, he could almost swear Ryoko had a similar if not cynical yet disinterested look on herself as well. "That's what I'm talking about," Ryoko supplied without missing a beat.

It was barely a moment later that tears began to pool in the corner of Mihoshi's closed eyes, smile still in place but straining. It took half as long before she began to whimper and shudder with poorly choked sobs. It didn't take any longer for her to outright start crying. "Well it's better than just sitting around and doing nothing!" she cried, jolting the both of them in surprise. Both were fairly quick to recover however. Yet before either of them could respond or console her in some fashion a heavy gust buffeted the courtyard they were in... an unnatural kind. It wasn't ill or foreboding thankfully, but strangely forceful nevertheless .

Immediately they all looked up and gaped in varying degrees as a ship seemingly made out of wood flew overheard with only a surprisingly dull rumble to announce its presence. It was made up of four, five really, parts, all of which given a wooden appearance in some fashion save for one exception. The ship mainly consisted of three elongated but narrow, by its standards at least going on the cuff, segments, all of which expanding in the direction of the aft, the rear, of the ship like rudders or fins whereas the bow was more reminiscent to horns of some kind, albeit vaguely much like the "fins". On the side sections of the ship were a pair of wings, one for both sides, more moderately built in appearance but polished and given a sheen like the rest of the ship. But what easily drew his eyes the most was the red ring at the center of the ship, held aloft by a series of buttresses belonging to the middle section. Easily enough the color drew one's eye to it but what held his curiosity the longest was the circular glass sphere residing directly within the middle of the ring of red wood garnished with three white strips near the front on each side.

"What the..."

"Uh-oh."

Immediately Ichigo snapped his head toward Ryoko just as Mihoshi began to cheer and wave at the ship, trying to garner the occupants' attention. "'Friends' of yours?"

Instead of regarding him directly she cupped her chin with a bent finger and thumb. "No... Well I don't think so at least. Just I can't help but feel that spaceship is awfully familiar though. Definitely Juraian at the least."

"Juraian?" he asked just in time for Mihoshi to jubilantly bounded off toward the stairs and promptly descended them, disappearing from view entirely.

"More or less one of the more major powers of the universe, if not the most powerful," Ryoko answered as she began to stretch her arms and grunt out of boredom. "Eh, at any rate the warrant for my arrest expired months ago. I got almost nothing to worry about as far as they're concerned."

He gave her a deadpan expression which she challenged with a smirk.

"Just try not to blow up our house if you guys get into a brawl."

"No promises!" she giggled as she took off to the air.

Sighing, Ichigo ran a hand through his hair as he watched the ship begin to descend. If he was right then in all likelihood they were planning to use the nearby lake as a dock. Specifically the one that sat in front of the house. With another sigh he walked to the nearest beam at the shrine keeper's abode and propped the broom against it at an angle before taking off to the stairs in a brisk jog.

XVX

Lakeside

Sure enough they used the lake as a dock. Unsurprisingly both Mihoshi and Ryoko had made it there long before he did. Thankfully it would seem he barely missed anything important beyond a green ball about to land in front of them, Ichigo himself included by coming to a stop behind the pair that were already present. A second later the green orb landed. Soon after it dissipated into nothing, leaving behind the form of a young woman of purple hair, a short curtain framing the back of her head as the even bangs hiding her forehead hid what was hinted to be a tiara of sorts in what few gaps he could see. Looking carefully, aside from two hefty but silken bangs which hung to the sides of her face, reaching all the way to her bosom, he could barely make out a pair of pigtails that seemed to dive past her shoulder. Regardless, as she slowly walked to them in measured steps, eyes closed all the while as if in contemplation, he could not help but take note of her kimono-like dress of whites, soft blue and even some purple along the sleeves. When she opened her eyes at last he also couldn't help but spy her red eyes peering out at them with dutiful, mundane curiosity.

It was lost a second later the moment her eyes landed on Ryoko however.

"YOU! It can't be!" they both cried in anger as they practically butted heads in a sudden confrontation, though neither were quite willing to be nearer than half a meter at best from one another. Still, repulsed, the juraian took a step back and brought a hand up to her mouth, fingers spread and barely hiding what it was covering. "So you're still alive Miss Ryoko. Those Galaxy Police have become so incompetent these days."

Likewise Ryoko took a step back and sneered at her in return. "And I thought this planet was remote, but here you are." With a smirk she leaned forth as she leered at her. "What? Has the Jurai Royal Family fallen or something? Are you in exile?"

The obvious goading was enough to have the juraian clench her fists as she snarled back with barely restrained rage. An instant later she turned away so her side was presented to them, her head canted in their direction with the back of her partially covered hand brought near her lips as she suddenly laughed a rather forced rebuke of a laugh. "You're such a joker. You know Jurai's Royal Family will last forever. We're everlasting."

"What?" Ryoko leaned close, a hand to her ear. "Jurai's Royal Family is never-lasting?"

It wasn't even half a second later that the other woman challenged her again much like she had moments ago. "Everlasting!"

"Well isn't that too bad," Ryoko likewise growled as she assumed the position as well with a heated glare of her own. With the tension so palpable between the two it was almost possible to see literal sparks ignite between the two of them as they continue to glare and growl at one another.

"Uh—"

Ichigo placed a hand on Mihoshi's shoulder before she could get any further. "I don't think they're going to listen to anyone right now short of being assault," Ichigo sighed as he scratched the back of his head.

"B-but—!"

"I came all this way to rescue someone and only to meet a lowly, disgusting creature like you?!" the juraian snarled with as much dignity she could muster.

"Yeah, well, I never asked _you_ to come, your royal lowness," Ryoko bit back.

"Maybe I should've kept that broom," Ichigo muttered to himself. Yet in all probability it was most likely for the best he had left it behind. Between pissing off Mihoshi's likely rescuer and potentially starting a war with a technologically superior civilization, whacking both her and Ryoko's heads on a whim to defuse the argument would have short lived merits if he couldn't calm her down... Then again she might let it go if she sees Ryoko floored considering their argument at hand.

"How unpleasant!" the juraian barked as she jerked her head away to the ship. "Azaka! Kamidake! We're leaving!" she orders as she abruptly turn toward the docked vessel and angrily marched to it.

"Yeah, great. Get out of here!" Ryoko yelled at her as she took a step back, relaxing as she crossed her arms under her bust yet scowling all the while. In the meantime Ichigo sighed in exasperation as Mihoshi spoke up in a nervous fright.

"Now wait a minute! She's my ride out of here!"

"Good riddance to bad rubbish," Ryoko answered her, canting her head in her direction as she did so. Her eyes then curiously flicked over to Ichigo as he sauntered up to her, a hand raised. "What?"

 _Bonk!_

"Ow! What was that for?" Ryoko grumbled as she rubbed the afflicted spot. In the meantime Ichigo turned to Mihoshi as he utterly ignored Ryoko.

"Go ahead and explain the situation to her before she leaves."

"Oh. Right! Thank you!" Mihoshi ran off, yelling "wait! Please don't go!" to the juraian. During which he brought his attention back to Ryoko who was matching him scowl for scowl.

"What was that for?" she half growled as she glared at him in the eye. In response Ichigo jerked a thumb to Mihoshi who now clung to the juraian's leg, pleading desperately and even crying a little as the surprised woman tried to shake her off and argue with her. In short it was intelligible on who was saying what and if any form of progress was being made. "What about her?" she half whined as she now pouted at him, though her scowl remained.

"Are you really so cold hearted as to drive away Mihoshi's help?"

She 'humphed.' "I'm telling you, that Ayeka is nothing but trouble. I may not exactly like Mihoshi but even I wouldn't put the poor girl through _that_." She gestured to Ayeka as she continued to try to escape Mihoshi's grasp.

"You two have a history, don't you?" Ichigo deadpan as he gave her a glare to match his tone of voice.

"Hey! She started it," she defended herself with something of a childish whine.

"All right! Just let me go!" Ayeka yelled, drawing their attention to them as opposed to a new presence casually strolling his way to them from the woods.

"Just what is going on here?"

With a curious hum Ichigo regarded his 'grandfather' as he continued to draw near, eying the entirety of the scene before him with a sense of unflappable calm despite the curious sight of a ship in what could be considered 'their' lake. "More visitors?"

"You could say that," Ichigo retorted as he looked to an exasperated Ayeka patting at her ruffled dress as a relieved but winded Mihoshi sat nearby. In the mean time Ryoko groaned as an inkling of what was to happen came to her mind.

"Don't tell me—"

"I'll get the tea and snack ready," Katsuhito sagely announced as he abruptly yet casually walked away with the hint of a puckish smirk spied along the edge of his now obscured face.

"Ugh... !" Ryoko threw her arms up and shook her head. "Somehow I knew it!" she sighed. A second later it seemed a thought struck her, and with it she turned to Ichigo with soulful eyes, the begging kind which he couldn't help but cringe under. "Surely you won't let a wicked woman like her into your home, right?"

To his credit he fought back with as neutral and deadpan as a stare and scowl could get on short notice. "You do realize that between being a space pirate and claiming you were being chased by one when we first met that I'm going to have to take that with a grain of salt, right?"

Ryoko pouted for but a moment before smirking. "Can't blame a girl for trying," she relented as she threw her hands behind her head and began to walk in the direction of the house. As she drew herself farther and farther away she glanced back and winked at him with a sultry smirk. It only grew a little wider, more amused when he only rolled his eyes in return and ambled towards the beleaguered pair.

XVX

Masaki household, twenty minutes later

With Ayeka in sequestered in the shrine room with the shrine keeper himself, presumably as an unspoken plan to keep her from being antagonized by Ryoko, they were all huddled in the living room at the house, each awkwardly sitting about and munching on snacks at the table. Well, awkward for both himself and perhaps Mihoshi whereas Ryoko was content with mildly sulking in silence. He had contemplated turning on the TV as a distraction but somehow that didn't feel, in a word, right.

With a sigh he decided to bite the bullet and get it over with.

"So what is your story with her anyway?" he reluctantly asked as he half nibbled on a rice cracker.

"I was wondering that myself," Mishoshi added. "She almost left me here because of you."

And much like he expected Ryoko's eyes were alight with a mild sense of mischief, yet at the same time perhaps a quiet touch of forlorn reluctance. Nevertheless she grabbed an emergency box of tissues from underneath the table, closed her eyes as she swiped one for himself and blew he nose into it. When she opened her eyes it was that same tearful expression she was keen on using to garner his pity... it was almost as if she was taught by Yuzu herself each time he looked into them.

"I'm home!" his uncle cried out from the foyer. "Hey Ichigo! I just got a package from the mailman for Grandfather! Do you mind taking it up to him for me?"

"I'll be back," Ichigo grunted as he got up and made for the door.

"But I was about to start my story!" Ryoko pitifully whined just as Nobuyuki turned around the corner with a small parcel in hand.

"Grain of salt Ryoko, grain of salt," Ichigo reiterated with a smirk at her expense. In response Ryoko pouted at him, drew down the lid of her eye and stuck her tongue out at him. Ichigo's uncle blinked in a confusion in the meantime.

"Did I interrupt something?"

"Hadn't really started yet," Ichigo answered as he received the package. "I'll be back in a bit," he said before slipping past his uncle and quickly made his way out the front door.

"So... what were you talking about?" Nobuyuki asked after a mild moment of silent awkwardness.

XVX

Masaki Shrine, some minutes later

"Who is it!?"

Scowling in annoyance Ichigo pushed aside the paper door and handed out the small package. "The neighborhood hooligan who decided to do a good deed," he sarcastically grumbled.

"Ah, it's you, Ichigo!" Katsuhito announced from his kneeling but ready position from the floor. Behind him was a surprised Ayeka who was curiously looking on as Ichigo stared at his grandfather figure in an annoyed, flat fashion as the elderly man accepting the item.

"Were you expecting a bloodthirsty shinobi to come crashing through the door or something?"

"Something like that," the shrine keeper softly chuckled. "There are hooligans running around at the very least you know."

Rolling his eyes Ichigo turned to leave as he half mindedly began to close the door behind him. "Wait!" With a curious hum Ichigo fully reopened the door. "Why don't you mind taking Miss Ayeka and show her around?"

While Ichigo was the one to perk an eyebrow at him, it was Ayeka who made a soft noise of confusion. As such it was her the older man turned to, once again seated on his legs considering the lack of furniture such as chairs in the room. "The mountains and fields on this planet have their own charm, though different from Jurai's, especially now. This time of year they're quite something to see."

"But—" she attempted to interject only for Katsuhito to calmly keep on insisting.

"It's all well and good to live for the duties of a princess, but that doesn't mean you can't have a day off from time to time. Whatever luck brought you to this planet, you should take advantage of it and try to relax. Forget your worries just for today." With a wry smirk he turned to the younger of the two. "Right, Ichigo?"

In response Ichigo couldn't help but give him an annoyed glare and a groan whilst Ayeka canted her head forward, a resigned smile creasing her lips.

XVX

Outside

It had been the last dregs of summer when Mihoshi and Ryoko arrived. He hadn't quite realized that till he ended up escorting Ayeka to and fro between varying points of interest that were small ponds with their own shrines, the dirt trails leading to a few of the fields where wildflowers grew and lastly the great tree that resided in the middle of the small lake near the Masaki Shrine, accessible by a small stepping stone path. It was an oak tree, yet out of all the foliage within the entirety of the forest and even in winter it was the only tree that stubbornly kept its leaves a healthy shade of green despite the fact it wasn't a fern... Regardless, its neighbors from across the shore couldn't help but inadvertently remind him that both Mihoshi and Ryoko had been with them for at least some months by now.

"Lovely," Ayeka softly noted as she continued to observe the trunk.

His only response was to hum as he looked to the side and peered at the side of one of the larger hills. "Different from Jurai?" he asked seeing as he had nothing else to contribute without seeming overly rude by seemingly ignoring her.

"Yes," she answered him. "Though I admit it does remind me of my home to some extent."

He hummed once more. "Similar ecosystem?"

"Similar," she softly hummed as she looked up to the branches with a smile.

"I guess that's reassuring."

"I'm sorry?" She turned to him with a confused frown. In turn he glanced at her d before looking up to the sky.

"Just there's this kind of image of space here, for when we do set out in the future..." he offered before pausing. "I guess that, inevitably open land in Earth like this would become more and more scarce in favor of industry or habitation just before we go into space. Even when we do make contact as a species, there's a chance other worlds are nothing _but_ cities and the like... I don't know." He shrugged before lowering his gaze to the hills once more. "I come from a small city myself, not here. We have some green there, parks and such but not quite in abundance like this... I guess I just thought there wouldn't be anything like this," he gestured to the forest, the lake and the unobstructed sky, "out there."

He quietly sighed to himself before turning to face her, finding her gently smiling at him when he did. "What?"

"It's nothing," she answered him in a genteel manner belied only by the small affection obvious in her smile.

A bit self conscious at the moment, he began to scratch at his cheek as he looked away. "If you don't mind me asking, should we head back now?"

"Yes," she agreeably said. It wasn't even a moment later that she began to step forward only for her foot to catch the edge of the stepping stone she stood on. With no even ground, much less an expectation of such an event, she pitched forward with a startled gasp, jolting Ichigo into action. Yet he was too late to catch her, properly at least. Instead she inadvertently fell into him, tackling him by accident and catching him off guard to the point he stumbled back slightly with his arms instinctively wrapping themselves around her to keep her from falling off from him. It was only when he regained his balance that he looked down to her with a concerned scowl etched on his face.

"Are you alright?"

"Y-yes," she replied as she stood up and looked him in the eye, her face a scant few inches away from his own thanks to the tilt of his head. He didn't resist in the slightest when she broke his grasp on her in a sudden rush to stand as far as she could from him without crossing over to the next stone, her cheeks aflame with a heft red whilst Ichigo, his own cheeks dusted, turned his head and cough into his hand.

"Um... I think there's one spot worth taking a look at on our way back to the house. Or the shrine. Whichever you want."

"Right..." After taking a moment to regain her composure she turned around and offer him her hand with a smile.

XVX

Masaki Residence

"Ichigo! Ichigo!" Ryoko yelled as she bounded through the house. Nobuyuki in the meantime hummed to himself as her largely ignored Ryoko after briefly being interrogated by her, contenting himself with polishing one of the knick knacks around the house.

 _Ding-dong!_

"Hmm?" He looked up from his seat. "Who could that be?" He set both the decoration and the rag onto a nearby table and got up from his seat. In a matter of moments he navigated his way to the front door.

 _Ding-dong!_

"I'm almost there!" he announced loudly, hopefully it was enough for whoever it was on the other side to hear him. When he finally reached the door he wasted no time in opening it, nor did he try to hide the surprise on his face upon seeing who was on the other side of it. "Oh, it's you! I didn't know you were coming today. How are the girls?"

XVX

Lakeside

For a long while there was an amiable silence between them that neither were interested in breaking. If fact they were content with it if her small but happy smile which he inadvertently spied on meant anything. But like anything it eventually came to an end, courtesy of Ryoko.

"There, I found you." Their collective attention snapped to the silver haired woman, Mihoshi standing next to her as they both stood in front of the lake, the juraian ship behind them. "And just where have you two been hiding all this time?" she demanded much like a concerned yet angry housewife.

Having been in odd situations much like this with his acquaintances at college, Ichigo sighed as he raised up his hands in a placating manner. "We simply went out for a walk. That's all that happened." Yet he was utterly ignored as she went straight for Ayeka, invading her personal space as she threatened to roll up a sleeve or perhaps even withhold herself from outright punching her.

"And you! How dare you flirt with Ichigo like this."

"Flirt?" she challenged as the princess' hands slowly curled to half formed fists. "Are you addressing me? Where did you get that idea?"

With a sly smirk she canted her head to the side to look at her from the corner of her vision as she stood back. "Uh-huh. So you're telling me you weren't flirting."

"Well of course not! I was certainly not flirting, gutter brain."

"Oh you lie!"

"What do you mean by that?" It was Ayeka's turn to invade Ryoko's space. "I'm not going to let that one pass."

Shaking his head, Ichigo stepped in between the two before it become more serious than it was. "I have no idea what happened between the two of you but now isn't the time and place for it." He turned, placed both hands on Ayeka's shoulders and began to gently push her away from Ryoko. Meanwhile Mihoshi likewise did the same for Ryoko as she added her own two cents. "Yes Ryoko. We need to start making arrangements to get back home."

"Lord Ichigo, please listen to me." Caught by surprise at the sudden addition to a title to his name, he focused the entirety of his attention on Ayeka. All the while however Ryoko was aggressively struggling against Mihoshi. "You must listen and listen very carefully. That creature called Ryoko is bad through-and-through. She always has been."

"I kind of inferred that when she convinced me Mihoshi was a space pirate for kicks," Ichigo grumbled as he looked over his shoulder with his typical scowl. Likewise Ayeka leaned to the side to scowl at her too, though this one was met with a mean spirited drawing of Ryoko's eye and the presentation of her tongue.

"Yes, well," she cleared her throat as he righted herself and drew Ichigo's attention back to her. He couldn't help but glance to the side as he could've sworn he saw movement coming from the forest. "It all happened—"

"ICHIGO!"

And for the first time in years his senses were kicked into high gear as an all too familiar man in his forties with a rugged, sprouting beard in a casual shirt and jeans launched himself from the forest in a flying kick aimed at the orange haired college student. "IT'S RUDE NOT TO GREET YOUR OLD MAN AT THE DOOR!"

"... One minute please."

Granted he is and was a soul reaper some years ago, but a gigai operated on the limitations of the human body for cloaking purposes. Even if somehow modified like when Kon was running about in Ichigo's body, it didn't quite explain how his father had essentially cleared the clearing in a direct course for Ichigo while everyone watched in utter confusion. In a moment of perfect precision, just as Isshin's foot was about to connect with Ichigo's face the college student stepped back, grabbed the offending appendage and judo tossed his old man into the lake.

"AAAH! IT'S COLD!"

 _SMACK!_

And now Ichigo was missing a shoe... it was worth it though as the man sank like the Bismarck, only with a shoe stuck to the brow.

"Lord Ichigo..." Ayeka spoke up in an uncertain fashion, "who was that?"

"That, unfortunately, was my dad," he grumbled. He turned to her. "So what were you saying?"

"Uh, shouldn't we help him?" Mihoshi questioned from the side.

Ichigo only raised his hand and waved it about as if to signify he was waving the issue aside. "It's not the first time he sank to the bottom of a lake."

"Oh Ichigo!" Before he knew it he was tackled by Ryoko from the side and was being strangled in a supposedly affectionate bear hug. "It must be so hard to have such an overaggressive father! Here honey, let me help you forget!" Ryoko's eye gained a mischievous glint as she puckered her lips and leaned in to kiss him.

"What the—what are you doing!" Ichigo cried in shock, completely unprepared for this.

"What do you think you're doing?! Let go of him!" Ayeka demanded, her hand balled up into fists and raised in an effort to restrain herself.

It was then it was made obvious as to her reasoning behind this, for Ichigo at least, as Ryoko slyly looked over and leered at the princess. "What are you so upset about? You said you weren't flirting, didn't you?"

"Ryoko," Ichigo intoned.

Ignoring him, she nuzzled her cheek against his own. "Hey, Ichigo, let's show her. Let's show her how madly in love how much we're in love! Let's show her. What do you say?" she breathily suggested, deliberately riling Ayeka up more and more with each syllable spoken.

"YES! THOUGH THERE IS ROOM IN OUR FAMILY FOR TWO MORE DAUGHTERS, ICHIGO!"

 _WHACK!_

And now Ichigo was shoeless as his father sank into the depths once more after his brief reemergence. Unfortunately in his focus for retaliation against his asinine father he wasn't able to temper Ayeka's ire in the least.

"I HAD ENOUGH!" she roared. "For the sake of universal peace, I am going to finish you off once and for all!"

"Okay, great." She let go of Ichigo to glare at Ayeka. "Let's just see if you really can."

From the side Mihoshi ran in between them, coming to a stop in front of the juraian princess. "Um hello. Excuse me." She began to turn her attention from one to another, facing them as she did so. "Could you two fight after you rescued me? I was just wondering if—"

"Mihoshi," Ichigo intoned as he began to back away, "I don't think they're listening."

As if on cue Ayeka thrust an arm up, her finger pointed for an unwittingly dramatic effect. "Azaka, Kamidake, open the hatch! We're taking Ryu-Oh up to attack!" Without warning she dashed past Mihoshi to the shoreline, the police officer in hot pursuit, begging her to wait. When she came to a stop Mihoshi latched herself onto her legs, her begging more pronounced than before as a green orb erupted from Ayeka's person, enveloping the two of them and disappearing as the orb floated up and dove straight for the ship. Meanwhile Ryoko turned on her feel and thrust her hand up in the air in a commanding gesture. "Come! Ryo-Ohki!"

From the other side of the mountain a new ship came into view. It was definitely strange to say the least: Appearing to be made out of polished obsidian, several precision cut 'diamonds' jutted out from a rectangular shape, though not really, base with a significant, angled block protruding from the bottom to host a singular diamond in a box shaped pattern. In the middle of the bottom of the ship was a diamond shaped spire. Along the upper half of the ship, though he didn't see it all as it came to a halt above them, were four more diamond-like spires, though it was plainly obvious for all to see that each obsidian 'diamond' was bent at the middle and made to protrude upward into the air almost like a crown.

"Now, ready?" Ryoko asked as she looped an arm around him.

"Please don't te—"

From the center spire a series of red, ethereal rings descended upon them right before they solidified into a focused red beam that encased them in its light. Soon enough Ryoko's grip on him tightened as they began to float up to the spire.

"I knew it," he groaned just before disappearing.

As the ships lifted off and raced to the reaches of outer space, Isshin popped his head out of the water whilst sporting two red shoe imprints along his forehead and watched them as they gradually shrank in the distance. "Jeez. He could've let me talked to them before they left."

XVX

Outer space

While he wasn't sure what to expect on short notice, he did at least expect some furniture or at least a bedroll within the domed command room of the ship. At the utter most there was a floating, legless chair that Ryoko was content to ignore and a strange array of diamond shape black crystals surrounding them. Not only that but it appeared that the controls which Ryoko was standing at were nothing more than blue-steel spheres, the middle of of which was larger than the other two.

"Ryo-Ohki, this will be a fight to the death," Ryoko announced, once again in her previous set of clothing.

 _"_ _Meow!"_

That and he wasn't expecting the ship to meow like a cat as it made it past the upper reaches of Earth's atmosphere alongside Ryu-Oh in record time, by human standards at least.

A second later without disturbing either occupant the ship began to tilt, allowing the side view of Earth to come into view. And as much as Ichigo would've loved to take a moment to gape at the scene, he had other issues to worry about.

"Oh now you two are going overboard!" Ichigo raged only to be ignored.

 _Boom !_

Already the two ships began to fire at one another. From the juraian ship came a barrage of blue-white lasers pricking at the edges of the ship in its initial barrage while the retaliatory strike came in the form of a giant red laser that crashed into the other ship to no obvious effect. But Ryo-Ohki did not relent, nor did Ryu-Oh as they traded one barrage for another at an unrelenting pace as one sought to overpower the other, neither moving in favor of assaulting the other. Yet as invincible as Ryo-Ohki seemed for no part of its hull was damaged with each blast, it was most likely a case of compounding and compounded wounds as various crystal began to spark with red electricity upon each hit, glancing or not.

Then, without warning, an image of Ayeka appeared on a screen as she cackled a dignified cackle at Ryoko. "Now you know better, Ryoko."

"Ha! We haven't even started yet!"

"Can you two please knock it off! If you absolutely insist on fighting to the death then leave both Mihoshi and I out of this!" Ichigo roared from the side, startling Ayeka.

"Lord Ichigo, what are you doing there?"

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Ryoko gain a calculative, opportunity seizing, mischievous look . He instantly paled as he tried to mitigate the soon-to-be damage.

Alas, he was too late.

"Where else would he be?" she purred. "Ichigo and I have a special bond." She grabbed the hapless, paling college student and held him against her. "We have taken a vow to die together."

"NO WE HAVEN'T!"

... His counter claim came too late however as the princess looked to be on the verge of tears.

"Y-you mean you mean..." She all but collapsed almost out of view. Yet the image expanded to encompass her and the bridge entirely to reveal two log-like constructs with red and blue sxript individually written on them, distinguishing them from one another, and Mihoshi who not only was sitting on the floor but appeared to be utterly baffled by what was going on.

"Lord Ichigo, taking a vow with a lowly creature such as her, there is nothing left for me to believe in," Ayeka loudly gasped between muffled sobs while she shook in place.

"Uh... Ayeka," Ichigo attempted to broach the quivering princess only for Ryoko to essentially mash her cheek against his own.

"Now, Ichigo, let's fight that evil princess with the power of our love."

"You're not helping!" he growled.

"Well, if that's the case..." Forcefully and with full dignity she stood upright with a look of steel in her eye... vengeful steel no less. "We die. Miss Ryoko, Lord Ichigo, then all three of us go to hell together!"

Flabbergasted, Ryoko giggling, Mihoshi spoke up at long last as she clutched at her legs. "Miss Ayeka, I think you forgot about me," she mentioned only to be ignored. In the meantime Ryu-Oh began to turn about till its bow faced Ryo-Ohki.

"Oh dear kami what have you done Ryoko..."

The ship at a sudden burst of speed lurched toward Ryu-Ohki at top speed.

"... You know, I may have overdone it, just a little," Ryoko muttered as she instinctively clutched Ichigo all the tighter as he did the same for her. Her countenance paling as Ayeka was laughing madly as the log with blue kanji begged her to stop.

"Lady Ayeka lost her temper!"

 ** _CRASH!_**

XVX

Lakeside, Earth

"No good rotten son of mine," Isshin grumbled as he ringed out what was hopefully the last of the water out from his shirt before slapping it back onto himself. While still grumbling to himself he bent down and attempted to do the same for his shoes for what good it would do him.

" ** _SHHHHHHHHHHH_** —"

"Uh-?"

 ** _CRASH!_**

"NOOO!" He ditched the shoe and attempted to reach the safety of the mainland, yet he was too late to avoid the crashing wave that spilled onto the shore. It engulfed him and dragged him into the lake against his will.

XVX

Living room, Masaki Residence, night

At the table next to the kitchen Katsuhito hummed as he took a sip from his tea. "Well, no one was hurt and that's all that matters," he stated to everyone before him. Nobuyuku in turn turned around behind him to address the log-like constructs standing behind him in the living room proper. "You're welcome to stay here with us as long as you like."

"So long as you don't blow up the house," Ichigo added.

"Seconded."

"I appreciate that sirs," one spoke up. Azaka, the blue one. "We take your offer with thanks." The red one was Kamidake unless Ichigo wasn't paying attention.

"Great. More freeloaders. It's really annoying," Ryoko grouched.

"You have yourself to blame for this one, Ryoko," Ichigo grouched back.

"Yeah, well, my Ryo-Ohki got destroyed too," she shot back. Sniffling from Mihoshi cut her off as everyone's attention was drawn to her.

"I told you to fight _after_ you rescued me!" she wailed.

"By the way, where is Miss Ayeka?"

"She's still in shock from seeing Ryu-Oh, her spaceship, blow up," Azaka answered Nobuyuki.

With a sigh Ichigo got up and cracked his neck. "I'll go check on her," he announced.

"There should be some soup left still in the kitchen," Katsuhito suggested.

"Hey, you're going to feed that ingrate? After she tried to kill you?" Ryoko groused.

"Again, you have yourself to blame on that one," Ichigo retorted before slipping into the kitchen.

"By the way," Nobuyuki spoke up, "has anyone seen Isshin?"

XVX

Meanwhile

Thanks to an absurd amount of luck he had found his missing shoe, wrung his shirt dry as it can be and managed to do the same with his pants without anyone peeping on him. At least no one as far as knew.

 _"_ _Pick up your phone! Pick up your phone!_ _Pick up—"_

"I really need to change that ringtone," he groaned as he fished out his cell phone, thankfully protected in a waterproof casing for days just like today.

"Hello?"

"Hey Dad, it's Yuzu!"

"Yuzu!" he exclaimed before adopting a worried expression. "The house is not burning down is it?"

"No."

"Hollows?"

"No."

"Did I forget to pay a bill?"

"I don't think so..."

"... please tell me Kisuke didn't get bored again and started to tinker with our stuff again."

"Not as far as I can tell, dad."

"Oh, then, why did you call?"

"Just making sure if Ichigo's alright. I mean we haven't talked to him in awhile.

"Oh he's alright," he grumbled before slyly grinning. "It looks like he's just been too busy entertaining some lovely ladies as of late. Can't really blame him for forgetting to call thanks to that."

Yuzu gasped at the other end, causing the man to laugh. "Does that mean he's settling down? Away from Karakura?"

"Looks like it! Next thing we'll know he'll be the next shrine keeper here!"

"Aw! But it's a long commute to get there and back again! That's going to be tough to visit any nieces and nephews in the future!"

"I know, I know," he assured her. "That's part of being an adult though."

"Aw..."

"Well I'm going to head back home now. I'll talk to you later."

"Okay dad! Be safe!"

"Will do! Bye!"

 _Beep!_

He holstered the phone back into his pocket, stuffed his hands inside his pockets and, instead of heading for the dirt road, made for the lake. Once he was there he sighed to himself as he looked down and watched a piece of tarnished driftwood from the other ship float on by. "Only you can get yourself into interesting situations like this, son."

 _Krk!_

"Hm?"

 _Boofm-splash!_

"Bleh! Phtooie!" The older Kurosaki spat out water the second he surfaced and growled as he looked up to the sparkling night sky. "This is some kind of running gag, isn't it?"

 **A/N: ...** **Yep.** **Going to try to avoid those "she did" stories as creatively as I can!** **Though as you can see creativity can be relative.**

 **Also, on a side note and a bit of a** ** _spoiler_** **, I'm going to avoid the Time and Space mini-arc.** **Maybe the festival too but that one is up in the air considering as far as Universe is concerned (at least in my interpretation) those are for comedic value only for the most part.** **You're more than welcome to make the case for otherwise if you want but I would advise you to not hold high hopes for me writing chapters for those episodes.**

 **No need for a Ghost is also a little iffy for me. Though to be fair I am planning to take a whack at it for the sheer challenge of it considering this is a Bleach crossover.**

 **Monkeybandit2, making off with your attention! No refunds.**


	3. Chapter 3

**... I do not own either Bleach nor Tenchi Muyo, least of all any incarnation of which regarding the two!** **This story is for entertainment purposes!** **If I wanted to charge people then I wouldn't put it on Fanfiction now would I?** **(Super squint!)**

 **A/N: On a side note, does anyone know what was being written in the sky on episode three of the Tenchi Universe series?** **It looks like an symbol.** **Or was it basically the equivalent of sky doodling?**

Soul Universe

Chapter Three: Here comes the other princess

Masaki household

Things only got worse since Ayeka moved in...

Unlike her evil counterpart, Ayeka certainly tried to make herself useful around the house much like Mihoshi. It was a little awkward however... Unlike Mihoshi who had a base understanding of cleaning and other such mundane topics, Ayeka was simply... clueless. In other words while she could comprehend the notion of working, the actual act left her unsure given her privileges as a princess whom was waited on hand and foot for the most part. Though they had to take their time to with her to show her the ropes, it certainly beat having to patch up the walls and floors every other day.

But during it all Ryoko, being Ryoko, had taken it upon herself to harass Ayeka as much as possible for her own amusement. That is of course when she wasn't being jealous to any at all perceived bonding between himself and Ayeka... But thankfully that was neither here nor there at the moment.

With his studying near constantly under siege by Ryoko in the house he had taken to either finding some random spot in the woods to study whenever the weather was favorable. If not that then it was the shrine provided it wasn't _too_ terrible of a trip. In any case it took skill, precision, and most importantly stealth to sneak out of the house nowadays without being accosted by Ryoko. It also helped whenever he managed to spy her being content with drinking the afternoon away, meaning he could sneak out the backdoor with the added security of knowing he was going to be tackled from behind.

Regardless, as he began to walk away from the house he couldn't help but turn the collar of his shirt up as a autumn draft briskly brushed past. Perhaps he'll stay at the shrine today.

XVX

Forest

It was the roar of a passing jet that brought his attention to the contrail being formed high above him. With his idle curiosity sated he was just about to return his attention when the jet abruptly changed course at a _90 degree_ _turn_! And though he may not be overly familiar with aircraft in general, but he was more than certain they couldn't turn that quickly! As such he couldn't help but gape at the spectacle as the unseen aircraft then began to circle around where it originally turned in an ever wider circle. At least until he felt a presence behind him.

Surprised and tense because of it he turned around rather sharply with a scowl on his face which was lost to a confused frown when he spotted the supposed lurker: a smiling young girl roughly ten years old whose teal hair had been pulled up into two waist-length pigtails, both of which were held together at the base by two large red beads; on her brow, between her eyebrows were two triangular marks though whether they were tattoos or jewelry he wasn't able to discern from the distance. Not only that but here eyes were an almost familiar shade of red... and her clothing looked rather similar to Ayeka's if it were patterned with gentle greens and orange highlights.

"Um... Hi," he awkwardly offered. To this the child giggled and waved to him.

"Hi, I'm Sasami! I'm here looking for my older sister."

Immediately a hunch formed in his gut.

"Her name wouldn't by chance be Ayeka, would it?"

Her eyes lit up and her friendly cheerful smile shined with brilliant hope. "Do you know her?"

He bit back a sigh as he hefted his book to him once more. "Come on. I'll take you to her."

"Thank you mister!"

Meh... he could study later. Ideally after Ryoko was blackout drunk again.

XVX

Masaki household, hours later

After the initial surprise of Sasami's appearance at the household preparations had to be made for both Ayeka and Mihoshi in terms of their departure and even celebration of returning home. For a time Katsuhito entertained them, presumably the same way he had with Ayeka when she arrived, while Ichigo, Nobuyuki and Mihoshi went out to gather party supplies. After quite a few mishaps, Mihoshi being behind a number of which as was the growing and soon to be gone norm, the banners had been finally set up, the food cooked, with surprising help from not only an eager but unsuspectingly skillful Sasami, and the sake had been dished out... in moderation of course in Ryoko's case.

"Aw come on! Just a little more, Ichigo?" Ryoko half whined and purred.

... With Ichigo being the quartermaster of which, no thanks to the closest thing he ever had to a grandfather on _any_ side of his family... Then again Nobuyuki wasn't exactly a tough nut to crack when it came to requests of any sort when they came from the fairer sex. Not only that but Ryoko had more than once proven that she could consume their whole supply in a matter of hours, or minutes depending on the circumstances, if left to her own devices. So far the only one she hadn't tried to brute force it from was himself with Ayeka being a close second, though it wasn't a lack of trying in regards to the princess...

... whom was rather melancholic in spite of the festivities whereas Mihoshi was her polar opposite with her smiles and the occasional tears of joy.

His attention however was stolen by a question from Katsuhito. "Hey Ryoko, is that all you can eat?" Because of it he was already on alert as he looked to Ryoko with squinted eyes. Sadly with her back to him however and judging from the bent of her arm, as well as the muffled reply that came from her, his suspicion only grew rather than became either justified or finally found a case of mistaken intent at long last.

"I don't have much of an appetite tonight."

"You've must have eaten too many snacks today Ryoko," Mihoshi offered with a puzzled expression of her own. In fact it was a shared trait amongst almost everyone at the table with their own variation of it. The only ones who didn't share it in any sense was himself and Ayeka. Like himself however Ayeka began to squint at Ryoko when she removed her hand from her mouth to cup her cheek.

"But I really crave some pickles and ice cream!"

It took a moment for everyone for the comment to sink in.

Of the group Nobuyuki was the first to gasp in surprise, speaking what was on (almost) everyone's mind. "Ryoko! My goodness, can it be that you're pregnant?!"

Admist the shocked gasping, and the deadpan stare from Ichigo, Katsuhito added in his two cents in a rather calm fashion. "I thought you were putting on some weight lately."

"That must be it!" Mihoshi animatedly added as she gripped her chopsticks all the tighter. "You know what causes pregnancy don't you?"

"Well, yes," Ryoko bashfully responded, her head still turned.

"Wow! I can't wait to see the baby!"

Ichigo bit back a groan as he began to rub his brow, all the while contemplating how to diffuse this situation before he inevitably got labeled as the father if he read the situation right. Yet in the midst of his pondering Ryoko lurched forth as if holding back vomit. Before anyone could comment on it she got up, ran to a nearby door behind him, threw it open and dashed into the depths of the house before promptly shutting the door behind her. And before he could even comprehend the ramifications of this she began to audibly vomit with theatric gusto... what killed it however was what sounded like a recording of a baby crying however.

"Oh you got to be kidding me," he grumbled just in time for the door to be reopened once more. From it Ryoko stepped out, both hand lovingly clutching what looked to be a large black egg of obsidian to her chest with a blush on her cheeks.

"The baby is born," Ryoko tenderly stated. "The baby I made with Ichigo," she then added with the same inflection.

The subsequent reactions of shock much like before were instantaneous. In fact they were louder than before, more shocked, whilst Ichigo practically tried to forcibly join his hand to his face to hide or better yet eliminate his embarrassment.

"I GOT TO TELL ISSHIN!" his uncle cried before hastily scrambling to his feet to get to the nearest door closest to the landline.

"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Likewise Ichigo scrambled to his own feet and, in a bid to counter his uncle, stepped onto the table, avoiding any of the dishes present more by luck than anything else, and launched himself into a flying tackle that not only decked Nobuyuki but enabled Ichigo to pinned the temporarily stunned man to the ground where the two began to struggle.

"Hey, hey! Don't fight!" Mihoshi and Sasami called out. By then however Nobuyuki was already flat on his stomach, arms pounding uselessly on the floor while his nephew was bending back one of the older man's legs whilst sitting atop of him.

"I'M NOT BRINGING THAT LOON OR MY SISTERS UP HERE FOR A JOKE!" Ichigo roared before turning his glare to an unrepentantly impish Ryoko. "NOW KNOCK IT OFF BEFORE HELL BREAKS LOOSE ALREADY!"

At this her grin became larger as she cradled her egg all the more lovingly. "You don't need to be embarrassed, Ichigo. Daddy."

"GAH! LET GO OF MY LEG! THIS IS SUPPOSE A MOMENT OF CELEBRATION!" Nobuyuki begged as he attempted to crawl away.

"Hm... I wonder if there's a word for someone in my position now that Ichigo has a child." Ichigo's glare not only turned borderline murderous but it was aimed at his grandfather figure. "But I suppose I'm a great grandfather now for what it's worth."

"OH COME ON!" Ichigo growled. Unbeknownst to him however was that with his attention elsewhere at the moment Nobuyuki, seeing an opportunity, pick pocketed Ichigo's cell phone from his back pocket seeing as his nephew put the kibosh on his original plan. Then again it was an improvement as far as he was concerned: facetime made it all the more special! In the meantime however Ichigo's attention was directech even more so from the burglary in progress when Ayeka slammed her hands on the table and stood up to point an outstretched hand and arm at the very cause of the debacle in the first place.

"Miss Ryoko! You do not really expect us to believe that egg is yours now, do you?!"

At this what obvious pleasure Ryoko wore on her sleeve at Ichigo's expense was wiped away for her more demure facade once more. "Well I just don't understand how you can be so cruel to be," he defended herself with her breathy inflection.

"That's right. It's so cruel to say such a thing to Ryoko!" Mihoshi scolded.

"WHAT?! MY LITTLE BOY IS NOW A FATHER?!"

Immediately Ichigo abandoned what interest he had in the scene. Forgotten what hope he had felt when Ayeka made her own move as well as the foot he let drop as he mechanically looked over his shoulder to see his very phone had been used against him. In facetime no less as he saw that _stupid mug_ haunting his screen!

Immiedately with the largest grin Ichigo had ever seen Isshin turned his sights away to his left. "GIRLS! GIRLS! YOUR BROTHER FINALLY DID IT! YOUR AUNTS NOW!

"EEEEEEEEEEEEE! CAN I SEE? CAN I SEE?"

Mortified, shocked to hell and staked there for good measure, Ichigo gaped in open horror as his situation went from bad to a hell of a lot worse. As such he didn't notice nor even heard the physical struggle Ayeka and Ryoko had over the egg. Yet when it slipped and fell from their grasp and crashed onto the floor with a sickening crack, everyone's attention was drawn to it. Isshin and Yuzu included by virtue of Nobuyuki having the clearance of mind to move the phone's camera in the direction of the egg with the crumpled bottom.

"Oh that poor egg!" Yuzu whined.

Sasami was of a likewise state... only much more heartbroken as tears began to trickle down her cheeks. "Oh no... the egg is smashed!"

"M-m-my first grand nephew!"

"Wait, what? Huh?" Isshin mumbled aloud. "Can I get some context here please?"

No one spoke up however when the egg began to wiggle in place, its shell softly cracking open as its inhabitant began to push its way to freedom. Soon enough a pair of rabbit legs jutted out from the bottom of the shell first. Mesmerized, everyone in the room only stared as those same legs kicked the floor with such force as to launch the egg and its inhabitant into the air where the shell was forcibly torn from the inside out by the very creature inside it, a rabbit of all things with its arms spread like a happy showman.

"Meow!"

... that could also meow like a cat.

"Uh... Ichigo, can you explain what's going on?" Yuzu called out.

Quietly and without looking Ichigo reached down, pried the phone from his unresponsive uncle's grip and brought it to his own face. "I'm going to have to call you back. Okay?"

"Uh... okay... Just don't keep us waiting!"

"Hey wait, Ichigo—"

Never has a _Call ended_ title flashing across his screen felt so sweet to him.

XVX

Outside, thirty minutes later

Ryo-Ohki. Evidently the _true form_ of Ryoko's ship was in fact, for lack of a better term for the time being, a cabbit. A... rabbit that sounded like a cat. Which could turn into a ship at will, at least according to Ryoko. While a part of him wanted to call that part "bullshit" on that just to maintain some part of his dwindling sense of sanity, he would then be forced to decry the flying, meowing spaceships, the flying space pirate, the otherworldly police officer and princesses, and the hollows and arrancar of his distancing past as well... it didn't make it any less weird though for him. Much less any easier to explain to his family after he slipped away to call them.

Sadly, for better or worse, their tune of "get married already!" hadn't changed a bit despite his sister thinking he was a little loony despite being semi-aware of the spiritual nature of their family. Better yet he managed to, or at least hoped to _ANY GOD THAT WAS LISTENING_ , to keep his family from making a spontaneous trip to the Masaki household in regards towards his 'fatherhood.'

At any rate however...

With their luggage packed and Mihoshi dressed, everyone eventually filed out of the house and gathered near the shore of the nearby lake in front of the house as a undoubtedly juraian ship slowly moved into position above it rather than try to dock in it like Ayeka had. Not that he could blame the pilot responsible though: unlike Ryu-Oh, though the ship was considerably smaller in its framing, it had an exceptionally long fin that made the ship look like a slanted version of the English letter P. For what it was worth it wasn't the only fin it had as there was one atop of the ship connected to the primary wing, and two more angled out from the round base plate the 'fins' were attached to.

"Well, I guess it's time to say goodbye! I'll miss you," Ryoko declared with her almost trademark mischievous grin as she drank in Ayeka onset annoyance. "I'll be glad to escort you part way if you want."

"Humph. Without a ship?" Ayeka tersely intoned as she turned away from her antagonist.

"Hm. That's no problem." She turned around and snapped her fingers and pointed her used finger at her cabbit. "Ryo-Ohki!" Her jaw dropped in embarrassment however as she witnessed Ryo-Ohki ignoring her in favor of Sasami who knelt down to offer the cabbit a carrot, her favorite meal thus far as far as anyone knew. The pirate's embarrassment and shock were such that she lost her sense of balance and fell over. A second later she madly crawled her way over, grabbed Ryo-Ohki by the scruff of her neck whilst she was munching on a carrot and growled in her face as the cabbit was meowing a counter argument.

"Hey now, knock it off! I'll let you eat all you want later!"

In the meantime Ayeka, observing the two, gasped in a revelation. "So it's just as I suspected. She is a child of Ryo-Ohki, isn't she? She is the _new_ Ryo-Ohki."

Ichigo was about to comment on her observations but bit his tongue instead: for all he knew she stepped out of the room during the explanation and he simply didn't notice at the time. Ryoko in the meantime throatily chuckled before rather ruthlessly underhand tossing the cabbit high into the air. The yuoung man tensed up as the cabbit screeched in fright, preparing to run out and catch it but it was for not. Before his and everyone else's eyes the cabbit curled into a ball and from said ball came a rapid eruption of brown but darkening stone. In a matter of moments Ryo-Ohki not only continued to fly upwards but her body, while continued to transform, continued to grow beyond what common sense would dictate her limits till the end result was an exact replica of the very ship that battled Ayeka's Ryu-Oh.

... again Ichigo wanted to call bullshit on it for the sake of his sanity.

"Well what do you know. Ryo-Ohki is a space ship!"

"Well let's go ahead and move them out."

With a quiet scoff and with closed eyes Ayeka turned her head rather derisively toward Ryoko. "Not with you. I assure you."

Like with Ryoko however her sense of... surety came crashing down when she witnessed both Mihoshi and Sasami crowding a rather smug Ryoko.

"Oh please. It would be such a help. You know I was told it's not as safe as it used to be in this area."

"Yipee!"

Ichigo could only blink in exasperation. Ayeka however was more dignified, at least when compared to Ryoko's response. "Sasami. Mihoshi. We are leaving." Having said her piece she began to practically power walk her way to the ship.

"Wait for me Ayeka!" Sasami called out as she raced after her. "Please don't leave me behind!"

Likewise Mihoshi followed suit. She stopped however as if she remembered something and quickly spun around to wave at both Ichigo and Ryoko. "Oh Ryoko, I'm counting on you to beat up the Space Pirate if you see her, okay?"

"Can you believe that she has completely forgotten that I'm the Space Pirate?" Ryoko asked Ichigo in disbelief as Mihoshi turned around and caught up with the departing royalty.

"All too easily," Ichigo deadpanned.

Barely a few minutes later Ryo-Ohki once more beamed them into the interior of the ship and meowed as it followed Sasami's ship to orbit. And like before a window opened up to showcase a live feed into a control room rather similar to Ryu-Oh's command deck with its steaming river outlining the apparent circular deck and the trimmed shrubbery carefully planted to act as trims. Still, it seemed as if they caught them in the middle of a conversation which had Ayeka's back turned to the 'camera,' yet a blush on her cheeks was quite visible despite this. It also seemed as if she was talking to herself on a tangent he wasn't quite able to catch. Ryoko on the other hand, whom had finally claimed the floating chair for herself, scowled before wiping it away with an impish grin.

"Hey Ayeka, can you hear me?"

In response Ayeka straightened in her spot and with cheeks now flushed with anger turned to the space pirate with a scowl on her lips.

"Listen, Ayeka, I bet you have tons of suitors back home. Am I right?" With a chuckle and a smugsmile she leaned forth with her arms spread, elbows resting on her hips, her eyes were closed. "So why don't you leave Ichigo to me then—"

A dull but pointed chop to the head not only stopped her but soured her mood a great deal as she turned to look at the scowling form of Ichigo Kurosaki. "I'm not some piece of property you know," he droned.

"Lord Ichigo."

His hand drifted back to his side as he shifted his attention to a rather solemn Ayeka. The two simply stared at one another before Ayeka sadly shook her head. From the bottom of the screen she brought her hands up to the middle of her chest, each one grasping the other as she made herself stand taller.

"I am Ayeka, the First Princess of the Royal Jurai Family. You must understand that I have many obligations, Ichigo."

At this Ichigo nodded yet said nothing.

"So you see I can't stay on the Earth forever."

"I know."

A tiny smile tugged at the juraian's lips. "I enjoyed every minute on the Earth, Ichigo. I close my eyes," and she did so if only for a moment, "and I remember all the wonderful things. Like the beautiful autumn leaves I watched with you. Or delicious taste of the sweet potatoes you cooked for us at the temple."

She opened her eyes and smiled sadly at him. "I'll never forget you, Lord Ichigo."

"I won't be forgetting you either," Ichigo rumbled.

She then looked troubled, unsure. She then opened her mouth to say something but fell quiet as she shook her head once more, her sad smile becoming all the more bitter. In response Ichigo, for all of his willpower, couldn't help but match her as he considered his response.

"Hey, Ayeka? You're more than welcome to come back any time you want to. Alright?"

"Hey, let her go Ichigo. Come on!" Ryoko groused and whined as she began to tug on the immovable man's arm.

"I... I thank you very much," Ayeka offered with some hesitancy with a barely quivering smile as tears began to form in the corners of her eyes. "However, Ichigo... We could..." she couldn't continued as what composure she had was lost. As such she turned her back to him and stepped a few steps away from the camera so she could sob in relative peace until she found it within herself to calm down if only a little.

"We are now preparing for final acceleration," Azaka called out from beyond the camera's viewport.

"Immersion completed. We await your orders, Princess Ayeka."

Having calmed down and whipping away what few tears were left, she turned around and focused her attention straight ahead of her, utterly ignoring the camera which still watched her. "Full speed to planet Jurai!"

"Yes ma'am!" both answered.

"Huh?" From the inside of her robe Sasami pulled out a partially bitten carrot.

Like Ichigo, Mihoshi also noticed it. Unlike her, Ichigo had to fend of Ryoko as she tried to tug him into her seat. "Oh! What's that carrot for, Sasami?"

"That was the carrot Ryo-Ohki was eating a few minutes ago," she answered as she stared at the carrot.

"Meeoohow!"

The camera zoomed in on the carrot and a nearby crystal drifted in front of the two on Ryo-Ohki's bridge. It then squeezed itself until a distinct 'pop' was heard. Its obsidian surface was then replaced by none other than Ryo-Ohki's overjoyed face as it cried out in excitement. Sadly it wasn't the only one to do so. Before long the two witnessed each and every crystal that floated amongst the bridge turn into a diamond shaped replica of Ryo-Ohki's cabbit face, each one being 'birthed' with a vibrant "mewo," as a **_multitude_** of screens presenting the carrot held in Sasami's hand outright overwhelmed each and every inch of the viewing space available for the entirety of the spherical bridge.

"Oh no..."

Ryo-Ohki lurched forth with great velocity before either of them could act in any capacity. Ichigo went tumbled to the very edge of the room whereas Ryoko's chair was shunted closer to halfway across the room in comparison.

"You can't be serious," he weakly groaned as he braced himself for impact.

"LOOK OUT AYEKA!"

"MEOW!"

 ** _BA-DOOM!_**

XVX

Masaki Shrine, an hour later

Charred but alive, he set out to do the only thing that made any lick of sense for him after he cleaned himself up: he gathered some leaves, set them ablaze in a smoldering fire and added some sweet potatoes to cook them in the smoldering pile. It was either than on stew on that fact that Ryo-Ohki basically annihilated another juraian ship _just to get_ _a single carrot_.

"Oh why does it have to be like this?" Ayeka desperately sighed. As if to add insult to injury to her situation Ryo-Ohki, dressed in a multitude of bandaids and happily ignoring the world, noisily ate at yet another carrot.

"Wow! This is delicious!" Sasami exclaimed.

"I'm just glad I'm still alive!" Mihoshi happily added as she and Sasami ate a sweet potato from their own pile of burning piles. Ryoko likewise was muching on hers, skin and all.

"Looks like we're stranded here on Earth," Ayeka solemnly groused. "If only Sasami hadn't found that carrot up there."

"Here you go." Quietly she looked down at the offered sweet potato, courtesy of Ichigo. "Just be careful."

"Ah! Thank you very much!" she said as she accepted it with a healthy dusting of her cheeks.

"Hey, hey, hey! Princess! What do you think you're doing?!" Ryoko clutched at her potato as she stood up and got in Ayeka's face for the umpteenth time in a row. In the meantime Ichigo merely rolled his eyes and began to tune out the one of many increasingly common place arguments between the two of them.

"Oh, Ichigo, may I have one?"

With mild surprise Ichigo looked up and saw the shrine keeper walk up from behind Kamidake.

"Yeah, sure." Without thinking about it he handed him the freshest potato before sticking another one into the pile and adding more leaves.

"Oh, by the way, Ichigo, your family is here," Katsuhito casually stated as he meticulously began to peel away at the potato's skin with his finger.

At that same moment Isshin's voice called out from far away. "IIIICHIIIGOOO!"

"... damn it."


End file.
